Post-race reflections

It's now been over a week since I ran the big race, and it's been a strange period.

I'd read a lot about how you have a post-marathon low and often you feel like you have a gap in your life. I didn't really notice it at first, because I was obviously on holiday anyway and out of my routine. I didn't have any gaps to fill because my days were full of holiday stuff. But I did manage to fit a couple of runs in post-marathon. The first one was on the Wednesday, in a small town in upstate New York. This run was short and far from sweet. My knees and fronts of my thighs were clearly unhappy to be hitting the road again so soon, but they did warm up and ease off a little after 20 minutes, so that helped.

The second run was far more glamorous, in that it involved running over the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday morning - you don't actually get to do this part of the city in the marathon, so it's quite nice to stick another icon in your running route catalogue. New Yorkers must get used to running it, but it's still quite awe-inspiring for me (even if the photo-taking tourists get in your way all the time).

Now I'm back in the UK, I am missing the marathon training as predicted. It took up so much time and involved so much scheduling that it seems to have left a huge gap in my calendar, which is in danger of being filled by work. So I need to make sure I install some sort of maintenance routine, so I keep my fitness ticking over for the next marathon year.

Yes, I really do want to do another one. For the last four weeks of training, I would tell anyone who asked me that I would never run another marathon, it is just too timeconsuming to do the training and I was sick of it.

But then I ran the marathon. And I am hooked.

I'd say the training was the hardest part, because the marathon itself was an adrenaline-fuelled, (literally) knee-jerking ride through a major international event. Just being part of the spectacle alone is addictive , but the fact that I enjoyed it and didn't feel wrecked afterwards means I just want to try it again. Most importantly, I want to see if I can beat my time - I am so self-competitive, it's embarrassing.

I'm going to have to pick my marathon carefully because I don't think it would be nearly as much fun running it in some wet, windy middle England city on a Sunday morning. I think I need another global event, another great atmosphere to keep me going. And if you want to stick a flat course with no potholes in there as well, that would be just lovely.

I'm not ruling out doing New York again. NY already has guaranteed entry and I entered the lottery this morning. They're unlikely to resurface the roads before November 7 next year, but at least I'll be prepared for it this time

Other candidates at the moment are Berlin or Chicago - both autumn marathons (and therefore summer training programmes) and both cheap and easy to enter. Will they be as much fun? Will Berliners shout 'lauf, Anne Marie' as much as the Americans shouted 'looking strong'? Will Chicago be too toddling for me?

I'll be back next year, to let you know

LON
xx

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere

The deed is done, the marathon is run, and my legs are still intact. And my name is in the New York Times!

I didn't quite get the time I wanted but I wasn't far out and, honestly, it was the fastest 4 hours and 34 minutes of my life. The time just seemed to fly by on the day, from the moment we got on the Staten Island ferry to the moment I crossed the finish line.

The 40th New York Marathon was all I expected it to be - great atmosphere, fantastic support and 26.2 miles long. It must have the most scenic start to any marathon, as you look to your left from the Verrazano Bridge (top level, to avoid men urinating on your head as you run), you get great views of the city that lies ahead of you and, of course, all those miles you have yet to cover.

The waiting around in Staten Island was fine, if very cold. There weren't too many pre-race nerves, so we didn't have to queue lots of times to use the toilets - although it might have been a case of pee fright after visiting the toilet the first time, as it's not an experience you want to repeat in any hurry. I did use one at mile 7 during the race, and I will have Nam-style flashbacks of that toilet for the rest of my life. It was too horrific to talk about, at least not without several hours of therapy, but at least it ensured that my bladder stayed happy for the rest of the race. It was obviously as traumatised as I was.

Every section, every borough brings its own pleasures. Locals head out onto the streets to welcome you to their neighbourhood, offering tissues, oranges, water and leftover Halloween candy. Bands of all description, and of varying quality, are out on the street to serenade you as you run past. I saw lots of the city I'd never seen before and plenty of places I'd like to go back and explore at a more leisurely pace. The Bronx and Harlem were particularly welcome, with luxurious wide lanes for us runners, and friendly locals cheering us along into the final section.

In fact, the vocal support all the way round the course is tremendous. I expected there to be crowds and plenty of support but not to that extent. Both NY and I had stickers with our names pasted above our numbers (a huge thanks to Sarah for her artistry in creating our name badges for us) and this made all the difference. It's the closest I will ever come to fame, with literally hundreds of people shouting my name for over 26 miles, preceded by any of the following: 'go', 'looking strong', 'doing good', 'pick it up', 'almost there', 'attagirl'. Although, my personal favourite would be the lone woman on a particular block in Harlem shouting, 'go, Anne Marie, that's what I'm talking about'. Thank you, ma'am, for keeping me smiling for another half a mile.

There were negatives. I missed a few of the mile markers, as they are not always easy to spot, so pacing became difficult. The road surfaces here in this city, to use the vernacular 'totally suck' so you are essentially running on a very uneven surface all the way round. And it took a lot longer than I would have liked to get out of the park, making it difficult to keep moving and prevent the muscles stiffening. As a result, I am hurting today in places that I have never hurt before. But not nearly as much as I thought I would. In fact, I am in surprisingly little pain considering the effort I expended yesterday. I'm fine as long as I don't try to get out of any chairs.

There are lots of moments you think in advance are going to be uplifting or pivotal in your run but, to be honest, by the time to get into Central Park, you are far too tired to care that you are running the New York Marathon in Central Park and just focusing on how soon you can finish and have a sit down. This is a bit of a shame and I am pleased that I did manage to regain some enthusiasm in the last 800 meters heading back into the Park for the final strait. It definitely helped that the band at Columbus Circle was playing 'Hold on, I'm coming', which is a pretty brilliant track to play if you're looking to put a smile on someone's face in the last mile of a marathon, and also that I was entertained by a slightly bonkers middle-aged Brazilian guy who ran the last 500 metres backwards high-fiving the crowd. But I did love the last few metres for themselves, for the fact that I was about to cross the finish line of my first marathon, exhausted but exhilarated. And I sure do hope they got my photo...

LON

Period of reflection #3

Regardless of jetlag, it's been difficult to sleep since my visit to Javits for registration. I am now ridiculously wound up - the sense of anticipation is overwhelming.

But am I nervous? Do I feel ready? These are the questions that people have asked me regularly over the last couple of weeks, and on marathon eve, I need to answer them.

I'm not nervous as such, but I am fairly wound up. It's more a pre-race excitement than nerves and I think it's probably important to be fairly pumped up at this stage but I just need to make sure I channel that energy in the right way.

As for feeling ready, I think there's two states of readiness to consider. Am I physically ready? Well, I've done the training and it's been fairly textbook, apart from having a cold a couple of weeks before my last half marathon. So I am confident that I am as ready as I can be, physically. I just hope my body agrees with me at mile 22.
There's been much discussion about finish times, and pace teams, and race tactics. I'm conscious I don't want to go off too fast, in a state of high emotion, and then end up being exhausted in the final third. But as long as I pace it right, it should pan out ok for a respectable finish time. I just need to remember not to compete with myself too much!

As for mentally, how do you tell? I'm excited, I'm looking forward to Sunday, I can't wait to get started, so in that sense, my head is ready.
But people tell you that it's mid race your head needs to be ready, when you hit a low spot. I need to remember my mantra, I need to remember I've done the hours, I've done the runs and I need to recall this current state of pre-race euphoria and remember why I'm doing it.

I'm doing it to do it - so I'm just going to do it.

See you at the finish line

LON

How to get runner's high without even running

Post-run yesterday, I headed into the 'city centre' and up to Central Park to check out the progress.

The finish line is up, the grandstand seats are installed, the portapotties are out (and, just for the record, Royal Flush Inc is a top quality name for a chemical toilet company). Central Park was looking beautiful, a giant saffron-coloured arena for the big finish of our endurance test. There must have been some sort of junior fun run, as there seemed to be about 80 schools-worth of children and teachers milling about the West Drive, not to mention the usual mass of tourists and prospective marathon runners.

Just seeing the bare finish line was exciting - I tried to visualise a strong finish for Sunday (while trying not to notice the slight uphill climb to the line) but, to be honest, I found it all very emotional. If I'm that weepy just watching them build the finish line, how much am I going to be bawling my eyes out when I cross it on Sunday?

After a nice healthy carbtastic lunch in the Upper West Side, I headed down to the Rockefeller Centre to pick NY from the office so we could head over to the Javits Convention Centre for registration. The expo is massive and the registration process is slick, although I imagine it will be more of a bun fight on Saturday itself.

I now have my race bib, my timing chip and a fantastic free race t-shirt. The t-shirt alone is well worth the price of the flight,  and I can't wait to wear it - after the race of course!

The expo itself is a mix of lots of clothes and shoe stores, marketing for other marathons and lots of sports gels and drinks. We did manage to get a few PowerBar freebies, a free Andalucia t-shirt and some lanyards but otherwise it was fairly low on free samples.  Probably just as well, as NY and I were hyper enough without an additional sugar rush.

The goody bag is full of weird and wonderful stuff, including a fridge magnet that you adapt to read your finish time and, bizarrely, a sachet of olive oil and sherry vinegar(?). The latter is only packaged in Spanish so I think there is a strong chance that some monolingual Brit is going to neck the contents of the sachet thinking it's some sort of energy gel...

Despite having sworn blind for the last 3 weeks I would never do another marathon, I also managed to enter competitions for places in next year's marathons in Edinburgh, Seville and Sydney! Anything for a free holiday!

And to be honest, this pre-race state is so exciting, it's almost making me change my mind already...

LON

Autumn in New York, why does it seem so exciting?

The last few days have just been a blur of packing and weather forecast checking but I'm finally in New York and on the last leg of the marathon journey.

The journey over was nervewracking for more than one reason. The tailwind was very strong which made the flight a lot shorter than normal but also made it extremely turbulent for most of the journey. The last half an hour was particularly bumpy, and there were a few moments where we were just a little bit too close to Long Island Sound for my liking, but in the end we landed smoothly, with a fantastic view of Manhattan (or the city centre, as the idiot woman in front of me called it).

The flight was made even more tense by the man sat next to me - with a cold. Germ alert, people! I am now crossing everything that he hasn't shared it with me before Sunday, as I think I would be heartbroken if anything got in the way of me running the marathon now.

I've been here less than 24 hours and I'm already feeling refreshed. I had a lovely evening out last night, eating good food in good company, and managed to get a full night of jetlag-beating sleep.
Most importantly, I've already been out for my first training run this side of the Atlantic, and loved it.

Running round Red Hook was a pleasure - how often do you get to see the Queen Mary 2 in the few 500 yards of your training run? Two people said 'hello', one man told me to 'have a nice day'- no abuse, no attempts to trip me up, just good vibes. I just can't wait until Sunday now, if this is what a neighbourhood New York run is like!

The change of scenery has shaken off the inertia and the boredom and I'm raring to go. Tonight NY and I are off to get our bibs for Sunday and pick up some freebies, and I want to pick up a couple of Clif bars for Sunday's pre-race breakfast. In the meantime, I'm going to spend the day exploring Brooklyn and making the most of being here while my leg muscles can bear it.

I heart NY!

LON

The drugs do work

With one week to go, I've done my last 'long' run in training - although at this stage 10 miles doesn't even seem that bad anymore.

It certainly didn't seem that bad for the last 4 miles anyway, as today I experimented with a caffeine energy gel. I've been considering taking one of these for the final stretch next Sunday, but obviously needed to check that it didn't produce any ill effects.
Wow, those things are good. Before I knew it, I was at the crest of a hill and I hadn't even noticed I was running up a gradient. Maybe it was the rain fogging my glasses or maybe it was the caffeine, but either way, I think it might be worth safety pinning one of these to my race kit next week. I just don't know when I might need the extra 'push', although I can definitely have a guess...

So I've got the energy boost sorted out. I've also been doing some prep for the inevitable pain - I went for a bikini wax yesterday. I figure all I need to do it recall that agony at various tough moments through the marathon and it should bring everything into sharp focus!

LON

Period of reflection #2

While the taper stage continues to be a struggle, I'm still trying to focus more on the mental side of the marathon prep.

I've already discussed what I've learnt while running the marathon, but I've learnt a lot about myself as well. People have asked me why I'm running the race and, to be honest, I don't really have a good reason. NY suggested we do it and I just said 'yes'. Any excuse for a trip to New York.

To be honest, in the few short years I've been running, the prospect of running a marathon has always been in the back of my mind. As I moved up the distances, I kept thinking, 'could I do a marathon?'. And I'd always thought if I did one, I'd want to do it somewhere scenic, somewhere overseas - a sightseeing marathon, as it were. So the offer to do NYC with a great friend was too good to pass up.

Not having a specific reason hasn't really affected my motivation either. Sure, we've been raising money for a very good cause - a personal cause - and that is an added incentive. But in a way the fundraising is just as much an incentive for friends and family as it is for myself - it's almost as if they need me to be raising money for a charity to be able to understand my motivation. I almost feel bad saying I am running it because I want to see if I can. This clearly makes me sound insane.

But I do want to test myself. I'm not just testing myself against the 26.2 mile distance either. One of the reasons I did not think I could do a marathon was the training it entailed. I thought 'there's no way I'd be able to stick to training for a marathon, not with my job/commitments/total lack of self-discipline'. But I have stuck to it and, up until the last couple of weeks, actually enjoyed it. This alone has been a revelation to me and it's taught me something about myself - that I can stick to a challenge when I choose to.

I've been thinking a lot about mantras lately. To help my motivation, I've been rereading my two best running 'bibles' - Haruki Murakami's 'What I talk about when I talk about running'  and Dawn Dais 'Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and on with Your Training'. These are both very different books (let's just say Mr Murakami is somewhat more 'cerebral') but both in their own way are reassuring in that I can identify with the running experiences of both writers.

Murakami's mantra is 'pain is inevitable, suffering is optional' (I think he may be referring to the blister on my left foot), Dais' motivation is 'pineapple cocktails with umbrellas in them'. Paula Radcliffe, who will be getting a whole hour head start on me come November 1st, counts her steps. No wonder she runs so fast.

I say, whatever works for you. But when the going gets tough in 10 days time, I might repeat ad infinitum, 'I can stick to a challenge...'

LON

Tough taper

With only 5 short runs and 10 days to go before the big day, I should be tapertastic. Instead, I'm feeling unfit, sluggish and heavy-legged. Admittedly my two runs this week so far have been a 5-mile hill interval session (on a taper! - seriously, this training programme is strict!) and an early morning recovery run. Neither of these are my favourite sessions but even by my low standards, I felt totally unprepared.

During the hill intervals, my 'fast' runs were little more than a jog, and after about a third of the session I felt like I was getting flu. I persisted, and am glad I did because the 'flu' was miraculously cured the minute I got home!

Beloved tells me it's quite normal to feel heavy-legged at this stage of a taper, but I still can't help wishing the next week and a half away - I just want to run the race now. I have had enough of training, enough of tapering, enough of chafing, enough of blisters, enough of emergency toilet stops.

Bring on the marathon, not the wall!

LON

Period of reflection

Now that the bulk of the hard work and preparation is done, and all that is left is a few 'short' taper runs and carb loading initiatives (burritos and cupcakes are the food of champions, you know), I've decided to concentrate wholeheartedly on mental preparation for the marathon.

I'm starting by reviewing the whole training process and how it's affected me mentally rather than physically. An ex-colleague of mine told me that the training was character-building, which left me thinking, 'Did I have no character beforehand?' 'What kind of character does lots of miles, lots of cereals and multiple laundry loads of lycra build?'
Or, as my chav teenage West London hecklers would say, 'wot fings did yer lern running, innit?'

Lesson # 1 - cereal is boring. Even when you try a different one every week (or on a bad week, two different ones), it is utterly dull. Someone please think of a more interesting way to eat carbohydrates at breakfast. Soon.

Lesson # 2 - as above, but replace 'cereal' with 'pasta' and 'breakfast' with 'dinner'

Lesson # 3 - Lycra dries really fast, so fast there is no excuse not to go out for a run on two consecutive days

Lesson # 4 - if you know there is a toilet nearby, you will want to use it

Lesson # 5 - people are mean (especially when they hurl abuse at you from car windows or try to trip you up

Lesson # 6 - people are lovely (especially when they sponsor you huge amounts of money or let you use their toilet)

Lesson # 7 - there's always going to be days when you don't want to run. The trick to get out of the house before you realise it is one of those days

Lesson # 8 - after a certain amount of training, your face stops turning a purple colour when you run

Lesson # 9 - after the same amount of training, it is impossible to get out of a chair without making an 'oof' noise

Lesson # 10 -  I have a nice bum

(I think the last one is the most important, don't you?)

LON

Last legs

I have only just realised that I supposed to run a marathon. In less than two weeks. Why did no one tell me? For thirteen weeks I have been distracting myself with trying to work 4 runs a week into my life, eating for two, working out what exhibitions or gigs I can see in New York and budgeting for an Anthropologie shopping spree.

I had completely forgotten I was supposed to get up at 5 am and run 26.2 miles. Slowly.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

LON

I am woman, hear me schedule

Another week, another long run - but it's my last one before the marathon, thankfully.

I'll admit that I'm glad to see the back of long runs, certainly long runs on my own. At least when I do the marathon I'll be running with someone else, and half of New York City making a noise around me. This will be vast improvement on running round the London Borough of Ealing, being lapped by women wearing lacy thongs (for running?!?) and being abused by teenage girls for wearing glasses. Kids today, no imagination.

I am worried about the psychological problem I've developed on long runs - toilet stops. I know it's all in the mind (well, ok maybe 85% in the mind) but I need to persuade myself that I do not need any more toilet visits once I've started running. My bladder is a great big coward, frightened of anything beyond 13.1 miles. It can't even get beyond 3 miles on the longer runs, but I'm never bothered over any other distance. Maybe I need some hypnosis before the big day!!

Although the week ahead doesn't have any long runs, it's going to be a masterpiece of scheduling to get three runs in during the working week ahead. I've got lots of travel on for work this week, which makes the days long and running complicated. Combined with my recent lack of motivation, this could be a tough challenge. Let's hope my juggling skills hold out.

LON

Weight for it

With two weeks to go, I'm finally seeing a change in my weight. I've gone through all this training, pasta-eating and crazy cravings without losing much more than a couple of pounds. While my thighs have got more toned, some might say 'taut as a tiger', the rest of my physique has stayed resolutely 'floppy'.

But this week I've dropped another 3 pounds. This is great news for marathon running - after all, the lighter I am the better my power to whatever ratio or something like that. It's also great news for my new, improved waistline. But not so great for the New York shopping trips - what if I buy something that doesn't fit me two weeks after the race.

These are things that concern me at this stage - how shallow can one person be?

LON

Another brick in the wall

Even the fact that I'm on the last sheet of A4 of the training plan is not enough to motivate me now. Getting ready for every run is still a psychological chore. Although I'm supposed to be tapering, my mileage total for this week is still 36 miles including speedwork. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

The shorter, cooler days aren't helping much. I am filled with admiration for people who train through the winter for the London marathon. It's so depressing - dark in the morning, dark in the evening. It's like some marathon-related SAD.

 But I'm still frightened enough by the prospect of running 26.2 miles without proper preparation that I can drag my lycra-d body out of the door four times a week. At least once I'm out, it's nnot too bad. I'm still enjoying the running itself to some degree, it's just the motivation to get out of the door that has left me.

Lots of people are starting to ask me if I'm getting nervous - I suppose I should be, but I'm so busy trying to keep myself motivated to finish the training, I haven't thought about it yet. I think I'm prepared, so barring injury or virus between November 1, then all I can do is head out there and give it my best shot. I just need to keep dragging myself out, in the meantime, to maintain my fitness and stamina. My mental fitness will just have to wait for another day.



LON

Optimal marathon nutrition

I'm now in the final 3 weeks of training or, more officially, tapering. Yes, the final sheet of A4 now graces the training programme spot on the fridge door.

I've decided that I need to treat my body as a temple for the final 3 weeks and live solely on healthy home-cooked food and healthy snacks. However, given that endurance training gives you massive sugar and salt cravings, this might be the hardest part of the whole programme.

This is just a selection of what I have craved mid-run over the last 12 weeks:

Beer
Magnum ice cream
Coca-cola
Shandy
Arctic roll
Battenberg cake
baked potato with lots of salt
miso soup
Birds Eye potato waffles
yoghurt
Natillas
Heinz baked beans and sausages
Skips
Bacon sandwich
Curry

It's a bit like reverting to childhood (apart from the miso soup) - in two languages. Obviously that's all I ate as a kid, sugar or salt. Often, I can get a craving for something just seeing a discarded wrapper in the street. Running makes you a proper tramp.

Needless to say, I haven't eaten these things (well, maybe I did drink one or two of them and I did succumb once to the beans and sausages but was sick later that day!) because when I stop running and eat something the craving goes. But it's been an interesting voyage of eating nostalgia.

I'm already dreaming of burritos, bagels and Junior mints for my runs on the other side. There's just no chance of me being a size 0, is there?

LON

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... 2!

Somewhere about mile 16 of my 20 mile run this morning, a small child asked his mother 'Mummy, what is that lady doing?'. Judging by the size of his mother, the only physical exercise this child has seen a grown female do is lift the lid off a cake box, but it did make me think 'what am I doing?' And what is she going to tell him? Will she do justice to my efforts?

It does gall me slightly that you've got no way of showing to the watching world that you're actually at mile 16 of a 20 mile run. They probably just think I'm a seriously unfit bird running around the block, with a bottle of water in one hand and a packet of wine gums in the other. At least when I do the marathon, the spectators will be fully aware of the 'level of challenge'.

It was not the most auspicious of starts to my long run. I set off with a relatively heavy heart, which got slightly more weighty just over a mile out when I realised I had brought no water or, more importantly, no energy gels with me. The thought of doing a 3and a half hour run with no sugar was just too much to bear, but I managed to gee myself up by selling myself an imaginary bag of Jelly Babies from the first newsagent.

No sooner had I made it over this mental hurdle, my bladder decided to get in on the act and start voicing some immediate concerns. At this point I was running possibly the most exposed mile of the whole route, and there was no chance of a sneaky pee. I carried on, convinced of a petrol station at the end of this particular stretch. Unfortunately, this was an imaginary petrol station and my bladder was starting to get quite stroppy.
Then, my knight in shining armour, Sir William Hill of Bookmakers, loomed up ahead. 'Brilliant', I think, 'bookies have loos' so decide to burst into the shop and throw myself on the cashier's mercy.

Talk about making someone's day - when I asked if I could use the loo, without having a bet on the 2.30 at Chepstow or putting a fiver on the Irish lottery, the cashier actually asked me how old I was. So not only was she going to give me the key to the loo, she thought I was under 18! The rejuvenating powers of exercise, ladies (remember this was the first 2 miles though). It got even better, the ladies' loo door lock was broken so she let me use the staff toilet. I love this woman. I was so close to offering to run the marathon to raise money for the charity of her choice when I remembered I had another 18 miles to go so I best crack on and buy some sugar.

And now here I am - 20 miles, 3h30 mins, one bag of jelly tots and half a packet of wine gums later, feeling remarkably fresh. I felt so well when I got home, I started to worry I hadn't done enough miles. In fact, I feel pretty good. Given the lack of motivation I've shown this week, and the palaver I had at the start of my run, I feel quite hopeful that my preparation is good and that I'm in a good place to do a marathon. I know that there's another hour's worth of running I've got to tackle on the day, but I'm still hopeful. And that's what counts.

Or maybe Jelly Tots need to start remarketing themselves as an athletic foodstuff?

LON

When the going gets tough, the tough hide under the duvet

As the week wears on, my self-discipline continues to slip. By postponing yesterday's morning run to the evening, I did manage to stay dry but meant I got stuck at work at a surprise leaving do, so wasn't able to get home in time to do 7 miles of intervals and just did  a 5 mile easy run instead. I haven't dodged the intervals bullet for this week, but have postponed it until Thursday after work, and will have to ensure I leave work in good time, no matter who decides they're going to retire suddenly.

This morning I did stick to my task of 6 miles slow, but it was the psychological task of hauling my body out of bed that was the hardest part. For some reason, my motivation has left me. I know it's dark, and I know I am half-asleep and hungry, but it's more than just that keeping me under the covers. It's the simple fact I can't face the runs right now.

It could be boredom or tiredness or just general Autumn-phobia, but some inner switch has flipped since the weekend and it's now an uphill struggle to get the trainers on and get out there.

It took all my inner coach's efforts to keep me from taking a shortcut and heading home early this morning, and the general lack of motivation is now starting to worry me.

So far, I've managed to display unprecedented levels of self-discipline when following the training and, deep down, I know the secret to that has been (whisper it) the fact I've enjoyed the running. How am I going to continue for the next 3 and a half weeks if I've stopped 'enjoying' it?

LON

Something tells me this is where it gets tricky

I had my first 'I don't want to run' moment this morning. Alarm went off and it was pitch black outside, which made me just want to roll back under the quilt. I'd been awake half the night, trying to decide whether to run before or after work - I realise this is not the best preparation for a run at any time of the day, but unfortunately this is what it's come to.

Anyway, I did put the run off, for the first time all year. Which means I have to run 7 miles worth of intervals later this evening, whatever the weather and level of darkness. Bah

I think this is only the start of the sleepless nights. I've had the nightmare about missing the start, asleepless night planning a training run and am now musing on whether to buy a cheap sleeping bag when I get to NY to use at the start (6am on a November morning seems to be a sleeping bag time of day).

While the stalling techniques are new, the blister is now quite old and getting very fat. I'm hoping this means it's going to burst quite soon but it could just as easily grow a second layer - it's a 50/50 chance. I keep thinking of Eddie Izzard recent marathon efforts and imagining how many blisters he had, just to keep things in perspective but I think it's fair to see the sterilised sewing needle looms large!!

LON

slowly slowly catchy monkey

if catchy monkey is a euphemism for 'enables you to walk without stiffness the day after an 18 mile run' - am now considering whether to trade running to a goal time in the marathon for the ability to walk the next day. I suppose I have 4 weeks to decide...

In the meantime, I've learnt that the following blister fixing techniques do not work:
- shouting at it
- pleading with it
- pressing on it really hard for ages - this just gives you numb fingers
- Compeed blister plasters (rubbish!)

I am now trying Savlon blister plasters, in the vain hope they might flatten it a bit. I did briefly consider going all 1950s on my blister's ass, by sterilising a sewing needle with boiling water and then lancing it, but realised that would officially turn me into my mother, so have resisted.

I've also noticed a small blister on my right heel too, which no doubt will grow exponentially over the next 38 miles

At this rate, I will need a bigger shoe size to run the marathon, just to fit my blisters.

LON

Blister pack

Bye bye high mileage week, hello just as high mileage week. It's 4 weeks until the marathon and my knees are wondering when they can start to taper. I am so looking forward to doing 20 miles. I'm sure it won't hurt in the slightest.

Admittedly, today's 18 miles were a vast improvement on last week's 16 miler. I didn't suffer from any 'walls' today although last week's blister has now quadrupled in size in all directions. But I managed to get to the last mile before I really started to feel homesick, so I think that's a step in the right direction.
True, I was so hungry when I got home I nearly ate some of the stair carpet but I did manage to make it to the kitchen eventually so very chuffed with the self-discipline there.

Yet again, Mother Nature was an angel, giving me sunshine, mild temperatures and a light breeze. I can only hope she's as magnanimous on November 1st, and remembers which side of the Atlantic I'm on.

If it is possible for muscles to get bored, then mine definitely do. Today's route definitely helped. I'm such a difficult individual - I need novelty, I need a change of scenery, I need excitement. Obviously running round the London Borough of Ealing rules out option 3, but at least I managed to cover some streets that I wouldn't normally run round, so mentally I couldn't tell how far I was from home, or how long I had left to cover.  With hindsight, I might have included too many hills (5) but what goes up, must come down and in general I was sufficiently distracted by my surroundings (RIP DIY shop on Bilton Road...) that I didn't really notice how long I'd been running. On that basis, I should be onto a winner with NYC as by the time I get to Queens I'll be totally lost!

Last night I had my first marathon-related nightmare - I didn't get my number in time, so couldn't get on the ferry to the start and everyone was being really evil to me, in a shouty New York  airport immigration officer sort-of way, but all with a 'have a nice day' at the end of it. I even missed the Barilla pasta dinner and fireworks the night before, which obviously is the main reason for doing the race in the first place. Talk about waking up in a cold sweat!
I've made a mental note to get myself organised this week and find out my ferry time etc so that's all cleared up and there's room to have nightmares about another aspect of the race.

Bad dreams aside, this week's biggest challenge will be to try and get rid of this monster blister before I set off next weekend otherwise at this rate it's, literally, going to be the size of another, separate, foot!

LON

Glutton for punishment

I'd like to say that I've ticked off 17 miles from this week's target of 40 but I suspect it may be 18. Or more.

My 7 mile interval session on Tuesday worked out really well - instead of doing very rigid intervals, I did 5 miles of fartlek. Apart from the fact it has the most brilliant phnar phnar name (I think it's Swedish for 'run like Pheobe in that episode of Friends), it's an incredibly liberating way to pretend you're doing intervals. Basically you just run as fast as you can for particular distance eg 25 seconds, as far as the next lamppost, up to that tree etc then you can slow down and recover, then set off again when you're ready. I do think I look a bit stupid on the fast bits - I am definitely built for comfort, not for speed - but then I do actually quite enjoy them. You can pretend you're a fast runner for a brief fleeting moment, while sniggering at the fart joke at the same time.

This morning I was supposed to do 10 miles, steady, but I ended up changing my route halfway round (thanks to Harrow council digging up the pavement I usually run on) and this seemed to be a lot longer than I'd planned for. It also meant it took a lot longer than I planned for, which meant me having to try and sprint the last mile in order to be in work on time. I am now officially pooped. Must try harder at the map reading next time...

I wonder if I can do one less mile tomorrow morning, to compensate?

LON

Literally

M&S, Charing Cross station, lunchtime - behind me in the queue

"This [the queue] is literally taking 10 hours" - Squeaky voiced girl 1
"I am literally freezing to death" - Squeaky voiced girl 2
"I don't even want this but I am literally going to starve to death if I don't eat something - is that literally all you are going to have?"
"I am literally dying of cold"

And so it goes on...all the way to the till

Never too hot to heckle but sometimes too tired to talk

I've just finished my 16 mile run - my longest run ever. And it feels like it. Every bone, sinew and muscle south of my waist is crying right now. No amount of ice packs and recovery drinks are going to stop me from hurting tomorrow. I even have a blister. I haven't had a blister for a year! - I think my feet are trying to tell me something.

The hardest part is the boredom. That is the longest period of time I've ever spent running and perhaps I need to take a more unfamiliar route for my long runs, just to keep the interest going. The most excitement I had was when a fly flew up my right nostril at 8 miles - it took me nearly half a mile to get it out so I could breathe again. God, running makes you do disgusting things.
I'm also bored of being heckled now. These people don't even come up with anything remotely witty or original. I say, if you can't think of something funny to say, keep your car window and your mouth shut.

At least the weather was kind - today has been a warm, sunny, perfect running Sunday. I've even got a tanline where my shorts stop. 

I suspect that the weather might be about to change, though. I've checked my training programme and the coming week is the marathon week in a marathon training programme. The shortest run this week is 7 miles (and that's intervals!) with more than 40 miles over the week, culminating in 18 miles next Sunday. It's going to test all my planning and logistical skills to fit these totals in round a full time job, and I think that this amount of mileage is definitely tempting weather fate - I'm due a soaking and I just have to hope it won't be on the 18 miler next week!

LON

Hate and love on the streets of London

Last night's 7 mile run didn't start off too well, when a teenage boy decided to sprint after me and try to trip me up. Fairly terrifying at the time, more because I was thinking I would be injured and not able to do the marathon, but after I got home it was scary for other reasons. I'm still at a loss to work out how he missed me, I must just have had my feet off the ground at the right time. Sad to think that this is what teenage boys think impress the girls, but an extra incentive to keep up the interval training so I can really hit the sprint button when I need to.

It wasn't all evil teenagers. On the final stretch home, a different teenage boy told me I had a nice bum. And yes, he did say 'bum', what a nice polite boy!

The bit in between wasn't too bad either - I felt fit again, for the first time in a fortnight and seemed to be ok at tackling the two hills I wedged in there. I'm still crossing everything that New York is flat, because it's just so much easier than running up and down slopes, but at least I'm getting prepared for it if it's not.

I was down to run a 10k race originally this weekend, as part of my original programme, but given the hiccup caused by my lurgy a couple of weeks ago, I've decided to scrap it altogether and 'just' run a gentle 16 miles instead. I had seriously considered getting the bus to the 10k, running the race then running the 9.5 miles back home, but somebody very sensible has managed to talk me out of it. Shame, it might have been fun!

16 miles seems so far at this stage. As I plot a route 8 miles out and 8 miles back, it really makes you think about how far you travel when you do your training. I'm beginning to think I might be mildly insane just attempting this distance, although I suppose the next three weeks will be telling, as I build up to running 20 miles. Apparently you just run the last 6 on adrenaline. I'm just not so sure my adrenaline works so well as the rest of the marathon running community!

LON

A decent interval

With 6 weeks to go until the big 26, and the GNR under the belt, the miles are now starting to increase. I eased myself back, post lurgy, with an interval training session. No, seriously, it was ok. I avoided hills. Seemed to do the trick nicely, so hope those 5 boroughs are flat.

I'm working up to 16 miles this weekend and looking forward to finding out how that feels.

In the meantime, I've been pondering a question that lots of people have asked me recently. When I say I'm doing a marathon, everyone asks how much weight I've lost. The answer is a big fat 'none'. I did think that as the mileage started to get higher, I would see a difference but instead I've stayed a very steady state. Maybe it's the Jaffa cakes. Or recovery shakes. Or a combination of the cakes and shakes.

On a positive note, for those of you thinking that running is waste of time if you don't lose any pounds, you could crack an egg on my thighs. Shame it's winter and I won't get to show them off in their new, highly toned, prime. It's a hard life, this training lark...

LON

I bet you don't get 'oggy oggy oggy' in New York

Well, readers - I did not defer. I ran the Great North Run yesterday, in glorious sunshine, and in a personal best of 2 hours 7 minutes. It may not have been as fast as I'd planned, but it will do for now, considering I'd been convinced I'd have to pull out less than a week ago.

And I'm so glad I decided not to defer - it was an amazing experience, not about doing a fast time at all but about just enjoying the day. The atmosphere is fantastic, with seemingly the whole of Newcastle, Gateshead and South Shields out to cheer you on. They don't just provide vocal support but also give you ice pops, orange segments, baby wipes and chocolate digestives along the way, just to make sure you never flag. It seems like every kid in the region is out on the street, waiting to give you a high/low five or an 'oggy oggy oggy'. Definitely a big thanks to the locals - they really make the race something special.

For people whose only experience of the North East is watching the Great North Run on TV, I would just like to point out that the weather is not usually like this but manages to be freakishly fine every year for the race.  And for those of us whose only previous experience of South Shields coast is sitting in the car, in the car park looking out at the sea with our coats on, as it's too cold to get out, then yesterday's conditions were even more freakish!

I'm pretty much over my cold now and feeling good, so happy to have gone through the experience of yesterday. As well as being on a post-race high, I am now really looking forward to doing the New York Marathon. I can now imagine what that big race atmosphere is like and have some experience of running in a very big field! Now I've got the half marathon under my belt, I'm ready to get back into training properly and Operation 5 Boroughs begins this week!

LON

To defer or not to defer, that is the question

Well, I'm feeling a lot better in myself but have developed an annoying cough. I can't decide whether it's on my chest or not, which is a key question - if it's gone to my chest, I probably shouldn't run.

I'm in a complete dilemma about deferring my entry. I know that my ultimate goal is the marathon in November, but I had entered the Great North Run way back in January, before my marathon place was a reality, and it seems such a shame that I'm not going to be able to give it my best shot. This time last week I was feeling confident of a PB in the race, I was feeling fast and fit. Now I sound like an old lady smoking 400 a day!

A little tester run today showed my heart rate was normal, so I'm obviously not suffering too much. I'm certainly not coughing when I'm running. But I've missed 3 runs now and a lot of miles of preparation, so I'm not likely to do nearly as well as I'd hoped.

And this might be my only chance to run the Great North Run - I was so lucky to get a ballot place and I can't help thinking I should defer to next year and give myself a real chance to run a fast race in the biggest half marathon. I can still put in a long run on Sunday, as a training run, but not in the race. I've always wanted to run this race, even before I got into running I'd always said I would like to run it one day. Now I've got this fantastic opportunity and those  pesky germs have ruined it.

I'm going to give it until the end of the week to decide - I've got two more opportunities to have a training run this week, and see how I feel after those. If it's not good, I can always defer by phone on Friday.

And if it's good, well, South Shields here I come...

And when they were up, they were up. And when they were down, they were down

I'm glad to see the back of week 8. It's not gone to plan.

When you tell people you're doing a marathon, they are either totally unimpressed (let's face it, lots of people do it, so it's no biggie) or else they respond as if you are taking on some kind of insane physical challenge that no-one, including you, could possibly survive. But the physical part of running is only half of it - I've learnt this week is that the hard bit is the mental challenge. That doesn't just apply to the race itself but the training too.

I realise I've had it easy - my training programme has been going great, the weather has been good to me, I've been able to make it for runs before and after work with little problem, and I've stayed injury-free. But now I've come down with some sort of cough/cold, and I've needed to stay off the roads and just rest, I've gone into a mild panic.

I was supposed to do my 16 mile run this weekend, but cough and cold are not the best preparation for the longest run you've ever done in your life and I've agreed to stay home and adjust my programme. My first panic was that I was getting the Piggy Flu and would not be well enough to run in next Sunday's Great North Run, but I soon realised that it wasn't that serious. Now I'm worried what the hiccup in my training might do to my overall fitness and ability to complete the marathon in the way I would like. And I'm finding the worry - and enforced inactivity - difficult to deal with. It's sad but true, but I've got used to the weekend routine and the long run. I'm lost without it.

But, as I said, it's a mental challenge as much as a physical challenge and I've got to stay positive. I'm going to treat this as a practice 'wall' and how I get through this wall will be good training for if I hit a low mid-marathon.

So instead of being cavalier and attempting 16 miles, I did a  very slow 6 miles today. I feel ok, no coughing or breathing problems, so as long as I take it easy this week I'll be fine for next Sunday, although I may not get to do it as fast as I would like. But who knows, maybe the 'rest week' will help my raceday performance in the end. And as for the Five Boroughs  - well, what's the rush? The medal will be there waiting for me, whatever time I finish.

LON

Halfway measures

This morning's run marked the halfway point in my marathon training programme. Although it's another milestone achieved, I don't feel like celebrating at all.

Maybe it's the fact I feel like I'm getting the lurgy, maybe it's the fact I had a couple of drinks and not enough to eat last night, maybe I'm just bored of running familiar routes. But I don't feel particularly good about the progress so far.

This morning's run was full of heckles, plus a near miss when I fell off a kerb just at the end of mile 3. Luckily I managed to save myself and not twist any ankles but it gave me a real shake-up. I think I'm just overtired and events outside of training are catching up on me, what with my face-ache, sore throat and a general lack of sleep. My travel schedule for work over the next couple of weeks is going to make it very complicated to fit the runs in, as they get longer and require more time. So I foresee lots of very early starts just to rack up the miles, and even less sleep than I'm getting now. I'm going to force myself to take it very easy this weekend and conserve some energy for those final 7 weeks, and of course, the GNR.

If I can't shake the week 8 blues, I just need to make sure I don't carry them over to week 9 and the Great North Run itself.

LON

this is a low

The transition from week 7 to week 8 has been a tricky one. Not in terms of miles, but mentally.

I knocked out my 14 mile run with few problems on Saturday morning. A beautiful sunny morning and a gorgeous change of North Yorkshire scenery made for a really nice run, complete with immaculate public toilet for mid-run loo panic (Harrogate Borough Council, I salute you you are a prince among local authorities). Harrogate/Knaresborough also seems to be very popular with runners and cyclists so it was nice to pass other people doing the same as me, as opposed to be stared at like a freak for tackling any form of physical activity (yes, Lowestoftians, I do mean you...).

But since then, events seemed to have ganged up on me. Beloved has developed a hacking cough, which peaked in a 3 hour coughing fit in the early hours of Monday night, leaving me with relatively little sleep after the weekend. To make matters worse, I've developed the most intense face-ache down the right side of my head. It is tender to touch, and too sore to sleep on that side, plus my forehead and cheekbone throb constantly. While this doesn't really affect my running leg-wise, the whole lack of sleep combined with constant pain has left me feeling really sorry for myself and pretty pooped.

Today was supposed to be interval training day, but the session just looked so complicated it made my head hurt even more just thinking about it. Instead I headed out for a fartlek session, just sprinting when I felt like it, and this really seemed to work. I felt fast and fit on the fartlek parts of the run, and was just glad to be out running in general. Hopefully another good night's sleep tonight so I can tackle 8 miles tomorrow and get back on my mental track.

With less than two weeks to go to the Great North Run, my germ radar is still on red alert. Vitamin supplements and echinacea tablets are keeping everything at bay for now, but regular emails from the Bupa GNR organisers telling me to defer if I feel the slightest sniffle are now starting to make me nervous. I will be devastated if I have to defer at this stage, so am crossing everything that I don't catch any germs or break any ankles between now and the 20th.

LON

What could possibly go wrong?

I'm stacking the extra mileage up this week, with only my 14 mile run left for the weekend. Wednesday's 6 miles was a milestone, in that it's the first time I've got a proper soaking during my training. As we are now in autumn, I'm assuming I'm going to get a few more dunkings between now and the race but I don't really have too much choice - no fair weather running allowed when you're training for a marathon.

I'm getting prepared for the weather though - I've bought an extra pair of trainers. Yes, I like running in my new Salvations so much, I've bought another pair while they're still in the sale (unlike Mr Remington, I don't have enough money to buy the company :( ). This should mean that if I get really wet on one run, I don't have to go out in wet trainers the next day - I've learnt this the hard way, it's not pleasant, and I'm just relieved I missed out on the showers on my second 6-miler yesterday.

What I'm not prepared for is the germs. Everyone around seems to have a cold or a cough right now. While it's easy to blame the weather, I'm now in a state of high alert. A cold now could totally screw up my chances for the Great North Run, and a really bad one could mean I have to defer. I will be gutted if I have to defer so am crossing everything that I get through the next two weeks without germs. I'll try to work from home as much as possible, and I've heard sticking vaseline up your nose works well too. And I'll keep washing my hands religiously.

I've also signed up for one more race before the marathon, this time a local 10k at the end of September. It's a final test of speed as well as a bit more experience of race day nerves. As long as the lurgy doesn't get me, I've definitely got my plan together for the rest of my training. I'm just not sure about the contingency...

LON

The hills are alive with the sound of wheezing

Oh evil, evil training programme, you do contain some horrors.

Last night's fun and games interval session was hills. Eight of them, to be precise. In quick succession.

What kind of evil genius thinks these training plans up? Apparently this sort of session is supposed to 'keep me interested'. If 'interested' is a euphemism for 'out of breath' then it's working.

I went to bed suffering from some severely achy legs and a red face, 4 hours after the event. I'm not sure which is going to give out first in this training, my knees or my capillaries.

LON

Operation GNR begins

6 weeks of training down, 9 more to go. I only managed one run over the bank holiday weekend, but it was a lovely 5 miler along the Suffolk coast - if only I could run along sunny beach promenades more often, I'm sure this training programme would hurt nearly as much.
True, Lowestoft is obviously not a big running town. I didn't see a single other runner in the whole of my 5 miles, although I did see plenty of other activity along the prom, prom, prom -namely, multiple motorised chairs carrying the local overweights - people of Lowestoft, put down thy fish and chips and walk.

I'm now heading into my first big week - lots of mileage (well over 30 miles in total) and, officially, my longest distance so far - 14 miles. Given that the furthest I've ever run is a half-marathon, this is 0.9 miles of new territory for me. Literally and figuratively, as I'll be in Harrogate this weekend so have to plot myself a 14 mile route in a relatively unfamiliar (and potentially very hilly) location.

I'm also adjusting my focus and not thinking so much about running a marathon at the moment. Until September 20, my runs and my training are all part of my preparation for the Great North Run and running a fast half marathon time there. Once that's out of the way, I can concentrate more on the last leg of the programme and the ultimate target of 26.2 miles round the 5 boros

I'm a little bit concerned about stepping up my mileage this week, mainly because I'm worried my knees won't hold out but, at the moment, my main injury concern is my left shoulder. It's not a new injury, I've been nursing it for a few weeks, but a bit embarrassed to talk about it, given the circumstances of how I hurt myself.

I've now decided it's my duty to alert readers to this potential threat. It's one of those things - you start training for a marathon and you dread getting an injury to a foot, a knee, a hip or any leg muscle. You avoid germs so as not to get swine flu that will set back your training programme. What no-one ever warns you about is pulling your shoulder muscle while removing a sports bra. The same shoulder - 3 times. Agony! It's a fantastic sports bra while I'm wearing it, but it's an absolute nightmare to remove - it's like removing a support stocking. All this has meant me getting stuck inside it more times than I care to mention, which is alright if Beloved is around to get me out of it, but if he's not, then my left shoulder pops out.

Given how paranoid I am about hurting myself and not being able to run the marathon (it's an expensive trip, otherwise!), this is probably the best I can hope for injury-wise. In the meantime, the hunt for a new style of sports bra begins before I do myself some serious damage.

LON

Who would have thought it was possible to lose Hammersmith?

Another long run out of the way - and what a mixed bag it was too.

The target distance was 12 miles although I ended up doing almost 13 miles. I'd planned a lovely zig zig route along the Thames to get me back to West London. The first 6 miles were great, lots of riverside views, very few roads to cross and not even a lot of traffic to pollute my lungs. However, once I reached Putney Bridge it all went a bit wrong - Putney and Barnes were very traffic heavy, even the countrified bits of Barnes were relatively chaotic. The situation got worse when I realised that Barnes is too posh for street names, and as a result I was totally and utterly lost.
I found a street/path that said it led to the river, so headed off down there, sweaty and hopeful. The path seemed to go on for miles and just kept leading into more and more trees and bushes. Where was the river?

By this point, my knees were getting a bit panicky. How much of a detour was this? Was I going to have to go back to the main road and find a 72 bus to follow? Was I just going to have to give up and get on the 72 because I would end up running another 6 miles round Barnes just trying to find a way out?

Finally, though, a bit of blue on the horizon. Knees started whooping with joy, until we got to the riverside and I couldn't see Hammersmith Bridge. Vague panic #2 set in, until I found the tiny 4pt sign that said it was 3/4 mile to the left. Tiny but beautiful sign, oh how I love you!
I think we can safely say this is the first time in history that anyone has been pleased to see the Hammersmith flyover.

Unfortunately, by this point I was desperate for a drink, so had to make another detour into M&S in Hammersmith to buy a bottle of water. Despite having cash and only one item, no one would let me go before them and their large weekly purchase of ready meals so I had to stand an twiddle my sweaty thumbs for a while in the queue, slowly eroding any pace I'd built up on the Nike+ to get there in the first place. I consoled myself with wishing bad karma on the woman in front of me.

Water duly purchased, off I head towards salubrious Hammersmith/Acton borders. Unfortunately, the change from my bottle of water is now clinking loudly in the back pocket of running trousers and I only made it half a mile before I had to stop again to rearrange the contents of my pocket to remove any jingling. Third time lucky, I head off on the final leg towards my parents' house and a damn good feed.

The whole experience was pretty knackering, both mentally and physically. I had all sorts of new aches and pains by the time I finished, with knees and achilles both being particuarly vocal about this new, non-Tube, route home. I was also particularly 'cheered' by my Beloved's comment over dinner that if I'd run back to work again, that would be the marathon distance.

Amazingly though, I seem to have woken up this morning ache- and stiffness free. I realise now that 12-13 miles is now no longer a real surprise for my body. I have clearly trained it to cope with that distance with a minimum of complaint - now all I get is the occasional whinge, usually along the lines of 'can we just sit down for a minute, please? Please? Will you just BLOODY SIT DOWN, WOMAN!' And it might just have a point there.

Cheered by my powers of recovery, I'm trying to forget about the NY marathon for a few weeks and am concentrating on achieving a PB in the Great North Run in 3 weeks. I'm aiming to do it in under 2 hours. Last night's time - 2h01min. So assuming I don't get a) lost or b) have to stop to queue up in M&S, I think I may have a chance!

LON

I can run, but I can't hide

I'm back in London after a week in Spain, pondering the impact of my summer holiday on my training programme.

Amazingly, I actually managed to run three times while on holiday. An unprecedented display of self-discipline on my part, I'm impressed by how much this marathon has terrified me into training wherever I am.

I was dreading running in Spain. The heat, the stares, the yappy little dogs - would they be too much for me to stand? In the end, it worked out ok. I did some research online before I went, and found the website of the local running club. Being Spain, this club seems to be only open to men but thankfully they do share their recommended training routes with us chicas so I was able to try that out. Luckily for me it was even my side of town.

It was, as promised, relatively traffic free. I even saw another woman running there, on her own, on the second day. (And the world didn't end, you machistas out there...). It wasn't, however, free of aggressive toy dogs or staring middle-aged Spanish people. Nor was it free of hecklers either ( is this a running landmark? Heckled in two languages?) - my favourite heckle is now being sung 'Vamos a la playa' by a Moroccan teenager on a bike. Beat that, Northolt scrotes...

I tried running about 10.30 on the first morning but there is absolutely no shade at this time of day on this route so tried the next two runs at sunset, which worked much better. The second run, on Sunday evening, was possibly the best I've felt all training. I was fast, I felt fit, I felt like a runner. I was jubilant when I got back - I could really see some progress. The third run brought me back to earth with a bump, as I felt slow, unfit and was riddled with stitches. My own fault for not eating enough during the day, I suspect.

As for eating and drinking, I was of course forced to try out some new carb-loading regimes while out of the country. I ate plenty of salads and fish to combat the high levels of pork and cheese consumption. Pan con tomate for breakfast works a treat, pan con something else for lunch also helps and Puleva Batido de cacao is a fine replacement for recovery drinks back home. I also found a great post-recovery recovery drink, which is Shandy Cruzcampo. The sooner somebody brings that to Britain the better - el rey de refrescos. Of course, you need to make sure you don't drink the milkshake and the shandy at the same time, that would be disgusting.

Admittedly, I can't be too smug. Although I managed to do the right amount of mileage for week 5, I'm now midway through week 6 with only a 4 mile jog under my belt. This is way off the mark for what I should be running this week and I'm away this weekend too. so week 6 is taking a big hit. I've scrapped the intervals for this week (any excuse) and am planning a couple of 5 milers at the weekend and just have to hope I can fit these in round social life

I'm making sure I do my long run though - in fact, it's safe to say I'm obsessed with doing the long runs. My theory is that as long I keep progressing through the long runs, I should be ok if I falter slightly on the shorter midweek runs. This week I'm supposed to do 12 miles, so have decided the only chance I'll get to do this is by running from work to my parents' this evening for my dad's birthday dinner. With any luck, he won't even notice I'm purple in the face and dripping with sweat

I'm looking forward to running a totally different route but yet a familiar one. I'll be running alongside the Thames for a large part of it and under the Hammersmith flyover for a (thankfully) small part of it but hopefully it should notch up the miles enough to keep me fit for Week 7 so I can get back on track

LON

time to leave for summer non-training camp

I've been doing a lot of running in the last 24 hours, trying to stock up on the miles and get a head start before I head off on a week's holiday to Spain. I'm packing the trainers and running kit, but I have no intention of setting myself up for a massive fall, or fail, by telling myself I'll do a long run while I'm over there - 32 degree heat and a small town environment that doesn't look favourably on women running round on their own in lycra does not lend itself to a 10 miler. So I did my interval training last night, and my 10 miles this morning before work.

I did notice that this morning's run was the first long run I've ever done where I didn't want to have a lie down immediately afterwards. Could it be my body is finally adapting to this crazy endurance test I'm putting it through? Or could it be psychological, because lil 'ole body knew it had to go out to a meeting and didn't have time for a lie down?

I will run while I'm away, of course. I can't let my legs have a break for 7 days, I'd lose too much fitness. But now I only have to do a couple of steady or slow 4 miles, which is much more manageable and leaves me plenty of free time to rest the legs in the sunshine with a beer or two. It's all carb loading, really.

I'm a bit worried about NY though - a brilliant time in only her third half marathon on Sunday, shaving another 8 minutes off her previous PB, in 94 degree heat, even managing to dance to YMCA along the way. But NY seems to be doubting her ability to do twice the distance and I just want to remind her that she's got a lot more training to do yet, a lot more miles to put in and as long as we put the preparation in, all will be well. As the t-shirt in the Austin running shop did read, Mile 23 is my bitch...repeat after me, ad infinitum

until next week,

LON

One down, three to go

Quarters that is - I am now officially over a quarter of the way through my marathon training. I am onto the second sheet of A4 of my training plan. I am celebrating with a homemade sausage roll.

What an exciting life I lead now. My whole life revolves round my training plan. When I can eat, when I can drink, when I can socialise, when I can lie down with my legs elevated and watch a DVD... it's all ruled by the training programme. But I definitely feel like I've achieved something 4 weeks in.

I did have an interim goal for this first quarter - to run a 10k in less than 55 mins. Just in case you are wondering, I failed. But only just. I ran a 10k in 56mins this morning, so close but no cigar (which is just as well because cigars are not generally recommended as part of a training regime). I'm actually very chuffed with that because I felt pretty rubbish while running this morning - very sluggish and unfit. And it's a PB! Tick.

I've conducted a mini review of my progress so far and I'm giving me an 7 out of 10. I've put the runs in, even with the odd hangover but I didn't do so good on two of the interval sessions, nor did I make a sub 55 10k. So I can't give full marks but definitely a gold star for trying.

I've learnt some important lessons in these first four weeks too - that it's wise to keep your mouth closed (flies taste rubbish), that toddlers can heckle too, that I should remember to breathe and most importantly, that rest day means rest. I've acquired a new pair of trainers, 3 new pairs of socks and a taste for vanilla flavoured For Goodness Shakes. I wonder if they sell those in New York?

Now I'm looking forward to part deux, and the next set of trials. I think the main challenge for this week is to force myself to run while I'm on holiday in Spain - high temperatures and cold San Miguels are huge disincentives and I feel a real test of discipline coming on.

Here goes...

LON

mind over matter and midges

This week's running has been going so well, I've not had the chance to tell you about it. After last weekend's collywobbles, I seem to be properly back on track. I even managed to pull off an interval training session last night without wheezing.

I'm undecided on the reason for my belated 'success' with intervals. It could be that the intervals were shorter - 800m is probably about as far as I can go full pelt without respiratory collapse. It could be that I'd eaten enough - although eating curry for lunch may not seem like the ideal preparation for effort through exercise, it didn't seem to have any adverse effects last night. It could be the extra protein I took on while running, by eating several midges en route. Or it could be mind over matter.

I read an article last week in a cycling magazine about interval training. I know cycling isn't quite the same as running (cyclists get to sit down for most of their workout, for a start) but the training concept for intervals does seem similar.
The point behind the article was that interval training, and the exertions it requires, trains your brain to think that it can cope with this extra effort.

I thought this was an interesting concept. It's just an embellishment of positive thinking really, and who knows, perhaps I have been sending a mixed message to my brain by trying to prove to it that physically it can handle bursts of exertion while at the same time telling it that it's impossible.

When I set off last night, I resolved to do the intervals and, more importantly, think I could do them. This involved trying to think of lots of other things while running the 800m bursts (remembering to breathe being top of the list) but the distraction technique seemed to have worked. Now my brain thinks it is fit, who knows what else it can do?

The goal for this week is a sub 55 minute 10k at the weekend, which would be a PB. It's my first test in this training programme and last night's run has made me look forward to it, instead of dreading it. I won't be repeating the pre-run curry (or hopefully the midge eating) so at worst, I can use it as a control for my mind over matter experiment.

As for the shoe crisis, I am persisting with my high heels, but still experiencing a twinge in the left calf. I have made a mental note to buy some 'sensible' shoes at the weekend but I think might be the biggest test of mind over matter that I can set myself at any point in this training programme

LON

R & R

This weekend has been a bit of eye opener training-wise. Running has not been a problem at all, but post-run has been much more traumatic than it should be.

I think we can safely that I have learnt a lesson - that when your training plan says rest, you should rest. And it means rest, it does not mean ironing, a bit of gardening, cleaning and dusting the bedroom and doing your weekly shop. Apparently when you do this, you suffer from mild exhaustion and wobbly legs. Who'd have thought it? And this is only after a 24 mile week - what will it be like when I'm doing 40+ miles?

Forced to lie down on the sofa with legs elevated on a Saturday night (no funny remarks please) instead of going out with friends, I made a conscious decision to include more specific rest periods in my week. I'm going to have to be more grown up about the recovery part of the training, and stop focusing on mileage alone.

After Sunday's long run, I showered and then went for a 90-minute lie down. This seemed to work a treat. I still felt a bit knackered but only a little bit, and I have no aches and pains today either.

I think this means we can add another bonus to running training. Not only do you get the green light to eat Jaffa cakes, you also get to lie down for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon and not feel guilty about it.

However, it's not all feet up and biscuits. There was another shadow over my weekend - the effect of high heels.

My legs were being particularly communicative this weekend. Not only did they vote with their feet (excuse the pun) and make me lie down for long periods, they also voiced their concern about high heeled shoes.

This is a major issue for me - I am not a sensible shoe kind of girl. I'm 5'2" and need all the artifical assistance I can get to make me look good in an outfit. Twinges in my calves are not a good sign and I'm worried I'm going to have to get some sensible shoes, even if just for the commute to work. Obviously I want to avoid the Melanie Griffith in Working Girl look so the hunt is on for some 'sensible' shoes that work with skirts. Stay tuned...

LON

running through my mind

today's 3 miles steady was too uneventful to write about, so you'll have to settle for the (true) story that was running through my mind while I ran.

Last night I went for dinner in one of my favourite gastropubs, the Anglesea Arms in Hammersmith. Even for a Friday night, it was really busy and all the tables were full twice over.

About halfway through our meal, the table next to us filled up for second time. Its occupants were a woman and two men. I couldn't see the woman's face but the two men were Michael Sheen - star of Oscar-nominated movies the Queen and Frost/Nixon and more recently, The Damned United. The other guy used to be Warren in This Life on BBC2 in the mid-90s and I've not seen him in a thing since. I was quite excited to see a movie star in the pub, even if he is homegrown. The two middle-aged couples on the table on the other side also seemed very excited to see them, even if they were being really indiscreet about it.

Anyway the actors seemed to be having a nice evening between Welsh friends. Sheen was taking the mick out of the other bloke for going to see Coco Before Chanel. Your average Friday night conversation between mates.

One of the men from the couples' group got up to go to the loo - clearly legless - and on his way back, decided to stop at their table. He doesn't even register Michael Sheen but instead turns round to the other guy and says
'weren't you in Midsomer Murders* recently?'

So there you go, any actors reading this blog. You really want to be famous, tell your agent to stick those Hollywood movies and those high-profile parts. You can play Tony Blair as many times as you want, but what really counts is those bit parts in a lousy ITV cop drama :)


LON

*for our American readers, Midsomer Murders is a dull, repetitive provincial English cop series. Midsomer is a small rural town in England where someone gets murdered every week. It's about as far from the Wire in quality and plotting as you're going to get.

Built for comfort, not for speed

Someone had better explain to me the benefits of interval training, and fast. Because I'm beginning to doubt whether this does any good at all.

Are you supposed to wheeze like a 60-a-day asthmatic? Is your left knee supposed to make that noise? Are your achilles heels supposed to try and leave your body after 3 miles? Is that the plan? Is it? Is it really?

Yet again, I failed to complete the interval training session proposed by my training plan last night. Admittedly it was a vast improvement on last week, in that I didn't get any cramps and I didn't have to stop and walk any distance. On the downside, I did have to stop at one point because I thought I might throw up, which I didn't think was part of the plan.
Instead of 3 x 1m fast intervals with 400m recoveries, and a 1 mile jog at either end, I managed 1 mile jog, 0.9 mile interval with 400m recovery, 0.75 mile interval with 500m recovery and vomit avoidance tactics, 0.5 mile interval with 400m recovery and weird-noise-emitting knee, 0.5 interval and the world's slowest jog home. It's the most piecemeal 5 miles I've ever done
The fact that I think this is an improvement only speaks volumes for how bad last week's effort.

It doesn't help that every time I start a 1 mile fast interval, an uphill section begins*. Perhaps I need to plot a flat route for interval training next week and see if that helps. And if it doesn't, just accept I am built for comfort, not for speed.

Trainer update: well, they're still holding up. Still look shiny and white and new, although I think tonight's weather forecast will soon sort that situation out.
Looking forward to a steady 3 mile 'recovery' run tonight to test them out on the easy stuff.

LON

*And dodging drunks at bus stops is not ideal either

so far, so good

Started week 3 this morning with another run in the new trainers. 4 miles slow is not the biggest test, but they passed it, if not exactly with flying colours.

As any woman with new shoes would agree, I can't help being distracted by the new footwear every now and again, and have to keep glancing down at them. Admittedly, it's not to bask in the glamour of my new purchase but more to ponder the optical illusion that I am running on the outside of my feet. This is clearly a deliberate move by the shoe fitter to get me to run straight but it's a weird sensation. Particularly at 7.15 am when you are half asleep.


For those of you not intimate with my feet (you lucky, lucky people), I overpronate. For the uninitiated, this means my foot tilts inwards when I land on the ground, with the inside of my heel landing at an angle. This results in blisters, and wear and tear on the inside of the shoe, not to mention the outside of my knee. There are lots of trainers out there made for those who overpronate (they're called stability shoes for you newbies), which involve stabilising the foot and making you run a bit straighter, essentially.
The catch is, most people who overpronate have really flat feet, which makes their heel strike the floor at this angle. So most of these shoes are built to fit a foot without an arch.
Me being me, I like to be difficult. I overpronate but have high arches. Freakishly high arches, I was told when I bought my previous pair of trainers. Which was nice.

So I've never really found the perfect pair of trainers to date. My shiny clean new shoes however are supposed to support my arch while making my heel strike straight. I think it must be working but of course, for me looking down, it feels like my feet are going the wrong way.

I've realise there's an easy solution to this - don't look down. But then you wouldn't have got to hear that story, would you?

The other incident on this morning's run was a mild scare from a black cat. It wasn't the cat's fault, it was sat quite happily on its own garden wall, minding its own cat business, plotting the next instalment in its plan to vomit somewhere inappropriate in its owner's home. But as I said earlier, I was half asleep. And running very close to said wall.
Before I knew, I had brushed against the black cat. I screamed (like I said, half asleep) at the feel of something furry. The cat didn't even blink, just looked up at me as if to say 'silly cow'.

I was fairly awake after that...

tomorrow is another go at interval training, my bete noire. I'm looking forward to tackling the next attempt in a more positive fashion, with the help of my new bouncy trainers. Check back to see if there's a happy, shoe-related ending

LON

I've got some new shoes on and everything's going to be alright

Two weeks down, 13 to go. Possibly not the most uplifting of training mantras but every week under the belt is an achievement.

To mark the training milestone, I indulged in some runner's retail therapy yesterday. I was long overdue a new pair of trainers and I realised the hard way that I did not have enough socks to get me through 4 or 5 runs a week, so I paid Sweatshop a visit.

For most runners in the UK, Sweatshop is probably a regular trip but I've never been to one of their stores before, mainly because they are not really conveniently located for my office or home. But I think it was well worth the detour, as I was very thoroughly checked out by one of their shoe fitters and am now the proud owner of a bouncy new pair of Adidas Salvation. I'm just hoping the name is not prophetic come November 1st.

I also replaced my now defunct Nike+ sportsband. This wonderful little toy is a great help with pacing runs, even if you did have to frequently recalibrated the old version. My old sportsband died a death back in May, along with most other Sportsband, and Nike have been busy refunding money and revamping the product at the same time. Fingers crossed Mark 2 works well, because it colour coordinates perfectly with my new trainers !

I didn't get to test out the new Sportsband on today's 7 miles, as it hadn't fully charged, but I did give my new footwear a good workout. I felt springy and bouncy, but suffered from a range of twinges along the way. It started with a pain in the left shin, which then moved to the right shin, which then moved to the right hip, then onto the left hip, then down to the left IT band. I'm hoping this is a natural reaction from my body to a brand new ride, not that the trainers were the wrong choice, but I think test driving the trainers may be a major feature of my programme for the next couple of weeks.

I'm now shattered and need to sign off and lie down. You might be thinking - what a wuss, knackered after 7 miles - but let's just say that I probably won't be drinking half a bottle of white wine on October 31st and leave it at that...

LON

The morning after the night before

Today
Miles:4 Heckles: 0 tummy trouble:0 Stares from strangers: 2

The training plan is back on track. 4 miles easy this morning worked out, well, easy. I had a a brilliant idea to beat the runny tummy - I decided to run so early in the day that my body had not fully woken up and realised that it had a stomach bug to distribute. What a stroke of genius!

Admittedly, running 4 miles while half asleep and on an empty stomach is probably not ideal but it worked so I don't care.

While running, I kept myself awake by musing on the British habit of staring at people who run. I can confirm that this is British because I have run in various parts of Britain, and people stare wherever I am. I can also confirm they stare at runners because no-one ever stares at me when I cycle (apart from that time I fell over in a coach park in Scotland, but that doesn't count because I was stationary at the time).

It could be because a) I'm going slower when I run so I notice it more, b) I am so purple in the face that people think I am going to die, c) people don't exercise (the obesity crisis is alive and well in my local area) so they think anyone who does is a circus freak. Or d) because I'm female and I'm on my own and women aren't supposed to do things on their own in our society. For me, the winner is d) (with a slight smattering of b), especially when doing intervals!). I blame Jacqui Smith and her scaremongering.

Anyway, I'll leave the feminist rant for another day.
The tummy bug rumbles on 'off-road' but I don't intend to run again for another couple of days and I'm crossing the fingers and toes it will be out of the system by then. Literally or figuratively!

LON

A bad start to week 2

I neglected my training diary for the latter part of week 1, mainly because I was far too busy out celebrating birthdays and enjoying the sunshine to write up my runs. But I promise I did do the training. Honest!

Just to keep any readers posted, my long run on Sunday could be summed up as:
Miles: 6. Heckles:1 Tummy trouble:1

Yep, that does say tummy trouble. Basically I seem to be entering week 2 with a mild stomach upset. By upset, I mean my stomach gets very upset if I try running over 4 miles, or at any sort of speed.
On the long run yesterday it wasn't so much of a problem apart from having to run the last mile very fast just to avoid 'doing a Paula'. Today, though, my upset stomach really threw a tantrum.

Today was my first interval session and I failed miserably. The first mile jog was fine, and I set off on my first fast interval - 1 mile in and my stomach was cramping, so I started my recovery jog early and hoped to jog it off in time to start a new interval.

No such luck. The second interval was worse - I probably didn't even get half a mile without starting to cramp again. But just to make it even more fun, I got a stitch as well. After 4 minutes I had to stop. I never have to stop, I was devastated. All I can think is, if I can't do intervals, then I'm never going to get faster.

But getting your breath back is a great way to focus and I was able to start jogging again within a minute. Another 5 minutes jogging and I tried a 3rd interval.

Four minutes later, I've got stitches everywhere, sides, shoulders, the works. My belly feels like I've swallowed a concrete football. I'm forced to give up and jog the remainder of the mileage.

In short, today's run was
Miles 5: Heckles: 0 Tummy trouble: 3

By the time I got home, I was in a foul mood. I felt physically horrible, which was bad. But, even worse, I felt like I'd failed on my first 'complicated' run.

Now I've been showered and fed, I feel a bit better. Ok, not a perfect start to the week, but I've not hurt myself and by the next interval run (in week 3) I should have got rid of whatever little parasite is making my stomach react badly to exercise. Everybody has a bad run once in a while

I am staying positive - 4 miles easy tomorrow morning, and I really hope it is easy.

LON

hydration

another day, another easy run. I feel like I'm being lulled into a false sense of security by my training plan, as that was yet another day of running slightly ess than normal. Still, I mean to enjoy it while it lasts because next week start to step it up a bit.

I worked from home today so did my run at lunchtime. As today is the first day of the school holidays, most of the run involved dodging large groups of loitering teenagers looking bored. On the plus side, none of them heckled me, which is a definite first!

I'm starting to think strategically about how I'm going to get through the next 15 weeks in terms of food and drink. I'm conscious that I probably don't drink enough water, particularly now I'm training quite hard. I do want to avoid becoming obsessed with the colour of my own wee, like a lot of runners, but I do have to be sensible too.

So I've decided to start carrying around a sports bottle of water during the working week. I can refill it during the day, but stick it through the dishwasher at night. That way I don't get lots of germs from reusing a plastic bottle, and save the planet at the same time.

As the weeks go on and the runs get longer, I realise I need to start experimenting with drinking while out on runs, and not just water but sports drinks too. This is going to be a big change for me, as the only time I've ever had sports drinks is during the two half marathons I've run, and even then just a quick sip. And I always find it very difficult to take on fluid during a run - it leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, and usually slows me down for a couple of miles.

But 26.2 miles is just too long to go without taking on some fluid and fuel, so I'm going to have to start practising eating and drinking soon.

In the meantime, I'm sticking with 2 Jaffa Cakes just before I leave the house, which I read in a magazine - a great excuse to eat them! All I need now is someone to recommend ice-cream and I'm sorted!

LON

first day of training - no heckling

Today was the first day of the rest of my life. At least, the rest of my pre-marathon life.

I do feel like a bit of a fraud as the first run on my training schedule was only 2 miles. This is a bit of a cheat, as it's shorter than I've been running for the last few months, even on easy days. But it was a total luxury just doing a short run and knowing that it is officially on the training programme. I'm making the most of it while it lasts - that is, for one whole day.

As I was running round my local streets I came to the conclusion that 7.30 am is the best time of day to run if you want to avoid the hecklers. Everyone is just too tired to make sarky comments about your outfit/speed/Forrest Gump at that time of day. In fact, most people look quite scared of me. Which makes a nice change from the weekends, where every passing lorry or loitering teenager feels the need to give their idea of encouragement. Every 'yoot' tells me to go faster (I am to out of breath to tell them to pull their trousers up) and every lorry driver has to make a lecherous comment. Believe me, I am a hot chick when I run. Literally. Obviously, purple cheeks and profuse sweating are the way to get to a man's heart. Or at least a lorry driver's heart.

On the downside, 7.30 am is far too early to be running any distance. Half asleep on an empty stomach is no way to achieve a PB. But I'm not going to manage 3 nights a week after work so need to try and get used to running early at least once a week over the next 15 weeks. That might be the hardest bit of all the training!

LON

Warm-up time

Welcome to my New York marathon training blog, Nylon Runs.

This is not the diary of an elite athlete, nor is it the diary of a self-confessed couch potato who's never done any exercise before. This is the diary of someone who's taking on a challenge that's much bigger than anything they've done before.

It's the diary of an inbetweener; a regular runner, who's a bit one paced and huffs and puffs their way round a regular selection of local streets, with the odd charity 10k thrown in. For the record, I've completed two half-marathons, in diverse conditions. The first was after an interrupted training programme, carrying an injury and in torrential rain. The second was after an uninterrupted training programme, injury-free and in glorious, if very hilly, sunshine. I'm sure you can guess which one I enjoyed more and ran fastest - and not just because I got a free ice lolly when I finished!

I'm not taking on this challenge alone - I'm taking it on with another of those inbetweeners with a couple of halfs under their belt. Unfortunately we're training on opposite sides of the Atlantic: me in London and her in New York, so this diary is also a way of keeping my running buddy posted on my progress (or lack thereof).

And lastly, it's a diary to make me feel guilty and make sure I stick to my training. The training programme is the terrifying part - 4-5 runs a week, with one of those over a long distance. I normally manage 3-4 runs a week, with longest usually about 8 miles, so this is a whole new regime for me, and I'm worried I won't stick to it. So this blog is another means of shaming me into sticking with it, so the NY in the title can make sure that I, the LON, keep up with the training plan and make it across the finish line in Central Park on November 1st in the best possible time and shape!

I hope you come back and check on my progress from time to time. I'd love to hear your tips and your encouragement, and feel free to nag if need be.

The training starts on 21st July so watch this space

LON