Tag Archives: training

The final hurdle – London Marathon Training – Week 14

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As I sit here and write this, gripped by a food-induced-coma after devouring a super-sized pizza, it’s hard to believe that I’ll be running 26.2 miles in just seven days.

After four months of training, and lots of guilt (holidays and London Fashion Week play havoc with a training schedule) all the blood, sweat and tears boil down to Sunday 22nd April, 2012.  I go from moments of sheer panic, overwhelmed by the scale of the event and the length of the run, to a beaming sense of achievement, because I know when I cross that finish line, it will be down to my hard work and determination, and no-one else’s.  I’ll have raised a thousand pounds to support a life-saving charity and proved to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to.

It was only today after I dragged myself out of bed for me penultimate long-ish run (8 miles round Regent’s Park at sunset) that I realised, there’s something quite comforting about pulling on my lycra leggings, and when this is all over…what will I do each weekend?  Will I miss running? Will I go back to my late-night binge-drinking ways, never to pound the pavement again?

All I know is that this experience has changed me as a person.  A  year ago, I wouldn’t be seen dead running in public, let along donning head-to-toe lycra and a neoprene bum-bag.  It just wasn’t the done thing.  (Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not at one with body-hugging dry fit and the fashion faux pas they present, but lycra is a necessary evil in the world of running. One that over time I’ve come to accept!)

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by marathon fever, so whilst out running, I went over a few  THINGS I KNOW, my mantras to get me through…

I KNOW… I was not born for speed, but I’m in it for the long haul

I KNOW… I’m not a natural runner but I’m committed to the challenge

I KNOW… I can run continuously for 13 miles – 2 hours 10 minutes, I did it in Berlin and I can do it again

I KNOW… I can run as far as 18 miles and be on the road for 4 hours

I KNOW… I perform best under pressure and rise to the occasion

I KNOW… I will get to the finish line

I KNOW… I couldn’t have done this without all the amazing people I’ve met at RunDemCrew, for the long training runs, track sessions and all-round support.

The gun hand will be going up at mile 18 and by mile 26 there’ll be tears of joy, relief, pride and exhaustion. Bring it on, in the words of Charlie Dark, let’s do da ting!

I’m running the 2012 Virgin London Marathon on behalf of Anthony Nolan, a life-saving charity that helps people in need of bone marrow and stem cell transplants.  If you’d like to sponsor me for the marathon and donate to this amazing charity, please do so below. Thank you.

http://www.justgiving.com/vanessa-woodgate0

Bridge to bridge – London Marathon Training – Week 10

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I hope I look like this when I run...I can only dream

Good old Hal Higdon in his infinite marathon training wisdom, suggested a 15 mile run for this weekend, and who am I to ignore the orders of a running genius. So off I went, this time to Kew Bridge to run all the way along the Thames Path to London Bridge, past hundreds of rowers, Battersea Power Station, Big Ben and finally the London Eye.

Running is a great way to see the city, but today’s run was miserable, cold, raining and yet again my knee gave up on me at 13 miles. Almost as if it knows, there’s 2 more miles of agony to get through.

Sheer panic set in at some point this week, when I realised that there’s just five weeks till the marathon. FIVE WEEKS! This is not long at all.  All those months ago when I signed up to this huge task, the reality of the London Marathon seemed very far away.  I had visions of a new, uber me – I’d imagined myself, stronger, thinner, happier, faster…

Instead, all feel is a little wiser – I now know what energy gels are, I own a foam roller, and I’m currently mulling over which bum bag (or fanny pack as I like to call it) I should wear on the big day.  This is all completely foreign behaviour for me.

Until a few months ago, I wouldn’t be seen dead in lycra, let alone run in public and the only foam roller I knew of were the type you use to curl your hair. Now I’m stretching on the floor every night, rolling around on this piece of foam that supposedly stretches my IT band.

IT band? I used to know about the obvious muscles in the body – the quads, the hamstring, the gluteus maximus (everyone remembers sniggering about that at school).  But I’d never heard of the IT band and now it’s the only thing standing in my way come marathon day.

I’m running the 2012 Virgin London Marathon on behalf of Anthony Nolan, a life-saving charity that helps people in need of bone marrow and stem cell transplants.  If you’d like to sponsor me for the marathon and donate to this amazing charity, please do so below. Thank you.

http://www.justgiving.com/vanessa-woodgate0

Royal Parks Crew – London Marathon Training – Week 7

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Albert Memorial, Hyde Park

Today was a huge turning point in my London Marathon training, which up until now,had been a bit of a farce.  Having got through fashion month after weeks of long night shifts with little training, I embarked on an 11 mile run in Hyde Park with some of the RunDemCrew ladies.  Without them, my training would be non-existent, they help be stay motivated and get me through those moments when I just want to give up.

Running map Hyde Park

It happened to be a beautiful sunny day, and most of the run was fine until mile eight, when I suddenly felt so dehydrated, I was desperate for water. We began a search for a fountain, running the width and breadth of the park. Typically each one we ran to had been pulled out of the ground or dismantled, and as time went on I got so dazed and confused…I tried to get water out of a bollard! Poking and pressing it until we realised it it’s one and only purpose was to hold a fence up.  Maybe I’ll try a cafe next time…