London Sport is running a series of blog posts on our five chosen runners for this year’s London Marathon.
We caught up with Andrew back in February and he’s given us his latest update on his training with the big day less than two weeks away.
How has training progressed since we last caught up in February?
Training has gone fairly smoothly over the past few months. I managed to increase my mileage from 28 miles/week in mid February up to nearly 40/week without too many hiccups.
It was a real relief to be able to complete my 20-mile training run alongside the Datchet Dashers and that gave me a big confident boost. Of course, they were all much quicker than me but my pacing was consistent and I wasn’t quite last across the line.
What’s been the best thing about training?
The best thing is when you can see you’ve made progress.
When you look back at the runs you were making in January and February and the (relative) ease with which you can complete those distances now – it does lift you.
Training can be really tough at times so having the support of friends and family is invaluable, especially when they remind you of the progress you’ve made already.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your marathon journey to date?
The whole journey has been a challenge. Finding the time to run 30+ miles in a week is difficult and you have to make sacrifices.
I have tried to make training as easy as possible by eating the right things and avoiding fast food and alcohol as much as possible but without denying myself too many treats. It’s a tough balance to find.
How have you found fundraising alongside training?
Fundraising has been difficult though the generosity of my friends and family has been a extremely kind and their donations mean a lot to me.
Organising fundraising events is time consuming when you’re training but I’ve found them essential to getting me closer to my target of £1,800.
I’m still slightly short of my target so fingers crossed I can get those final few donations after crossing the finish line to ensure that London Sport can deliver on getting more deaf and disabled people in London to be active.
What’s the best/worst piece of advice you’ve been given so far?
Until I cross that finish line, I’m not sure I will know for sure. Everyone seems to have that one bit of advice that has worked well for them.
I think the most common advice I’ve received has been about starting slowly and not getting carried away by the atmosphere at the beginning.
I fear that will be easier said that done.
Do you feel ready for the marathon on April 26?
I’m as ready as I can be. I don’t think I could have got much fitter in the time frame I had and, on the whole, training has gone well.
When I started training in late December I had never run more than 5k so just to complete 26.2 miles will be a massive achievement in itself.
Our Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 runners will be raising funds to help inactive or less active Londoners in a range of underrepresented communities – specifically to support deaf and disabled Londoners to become more active.
