With the 2018 London Marathon now only a matter of months away, we caught up with Becky who has a number of tips and tails from her training so far:
With just over 100 days to go until the London Marathon, I seem to keep telling myself that I have ages until my training needs to get serious however, I know that the day is soon around the corner!
So far I am really enjoying training but I am really struggling with the colder weather! I am the type of person who sits in the office in thermals, and I am constantly asking for the heating to be turned up to 26 degrees whilst the rest of the office are sat in t-shirts in the middle of December! So for me, leaving my warm house to go out into the cold wind, rain & snow is something which I am not enjoying. Why would anyone choose to go outside to exercise when there is an indoor swimming pool, gym or exercise class to attend instead?!
Finding the first 15-20 minutes really hard but feeling 10 times better!
However, I have purchased plenty of thermals, new trainers and high-vis gear to encourage myself to get out and into the cold! Once I am running, I find the first 15-20mins really hard, and I always say to myself that a short run is better than nothing but once I get going, I really settle into the run and start to enjoy it. I have found it as to get away from everything and for someone who loves being active & busy, I find running a great way to clear my head. After a long day at work or if I am feeling like I don’t have any energy, I always feel ten times better after going for a run (or any type of exercise for that matter) which is probably my biggest motivation for getting outside!
I have currently reached the 10 mile stage with my training, although this has not been without the struggle of knee pain. As well as swimming, I also love weight training in the gym so with the addition of running into my weekly routine, I think I have sometimes been trying to push my body too hard which has caused my knees to struggle. After having almost two weeks off from running to let my knees recover, I am back into the swing of training and I will be making sure that I am listening to my body to realise when a rest day is needed. I will also start to prioritise my running training in the lead up to the marathon, but for now I hope that my swimming fitness will continue to benefit my training!
A recommendation for fellow runners
I have also noticed the difference in purchasing a properly fitted pair of trainers. Although I spent more money than I initially planned, it has been completely worthwhile especially as I found out that my shin splints were due to my feet over-pronating. After the first run in my new trainers, I noticed a considerable difference in my shin splints and since then I haven’t had any pain at all (at least that is one less thing to worry about in the lead up to the big day!). So spending a bit of additional money of a pair of running trainers & time getting your gait analysed is something I would recommend to anyone who is starting to do more running!
I am really excited to see how my training progresses over the next few months, and I have started to get some pre-marathon races in the diary as well as encouraging others to enter with me! So far, I have entered a 10 mile race at the end of January with my mum, and I am also entering a half marathon in February and a 20 mile race in March. I will continue to post about my progress on social media (especially with pictures as I love Instagram!) and please visit my fundraising page to support me if you can!
