BLOG 43: 15 NOT OUT

It was no surprise to find myself on the start of the London Marathon for the 15th time. It’s a day in my running calendar that I just would not miss.

This year however, I had a cold and was definitely not 100%. I should have seen it coming as I’ve had so many colds during a very damp start to the year. After a really good ten mile race at the end of January, February was a total wash out – quite literally with all the rain we had – and I’m not sure I did one really good run all month. March got better and in the middle of month I did a solid 3 hour 10 minute run one sunny Sunday afternoon which reminded me how great the long slow runs can be. However, a half marathon on Good Friday which I had run in 1 hour 38 minutes last year saw me complete in 1 hour 41 minutes this year to remind me that I was not as fit as I wanted to be.

Two days before the marathon, after collecting my number, I had a mobility session at the Running School and thought I felt as good as I possibly could do in the circumstances. Yet by Friday evening as I ate a large helping of sausages and mash (yum!) the telltale niggle in the throat arrived and the lurgy was clearly approaching.

One of the amazing things about the London Marathon is getting a glimpse into what brings 50,000 of us together to run 26.2 miles around the Capital. The experiences and challenges some people have faced in making it to the start line are truly inspiring. No mire lurgy was going to stop me joining them!

For once, I was in my pen at the start 20 minutes early, loo stops done and feeling calm and ready. It’s very annoying when you’re told how important “a bit of experience” is when trying to achieve anything in life, but sadly it’s annoying and true. To know how hard, and yet how fulfilling, the next few hours were going to be only added to my focus and determination to run my best race.

The first half went like clockwork. I used my arms effectively to set a decent rhythm – a word a said to myself many times during the race to keep me focused – and the miles ticked by satisfyingly. When I went through half way in 1:35:10 I was satisfied that the real race was about to begin. Alas, it was in fact the beginning of the end of “the race” and the start of sheer survival.

I love the left and right downhill turn into Narrow Street at 14 ½ miles (yes I know the course this well!) as you can pick up a bit of speed as the road seems to throw you into the no-man’s land miles of the race between 15 and 20 miles. No matter what speed you’re running these are tough miles for everyone. This year, instead of my physical and mental engine turning on, I seemed to just empty. The legs tightened up – I suspect because oxygen levels were declining as lactic acid levels grew – and I just couldn’t hold my previous pace.

When I have a tough day in a marathon there is no drama, it all just seems to happen in slow motion. The miles take longer to click by. Taking on water and food is more of an effort as my body is clearly not happy. Initially I get frustrated, but on Sunday I knew what was happening and resolved to simply make the best of it and – with apologies to Kipling – to hold on when there was nothing in me except a stubbornness which simply doesn’t accept DNFs.

The great thing about running loads of marathons is that I’ve learnt, when it starts really hurt it can’t get much worse. The only discernible change was the clock showed each mile time starting with an eight rather than a seven. Hey ho, many worse things happen in the world.

I knew if I could get to the Embankment the crowds would carry me home. They never fail to make the last two miles the best miles of the year, be it also the most painful. I was chasing the clock for a 3:25 finish just to give myself something to aim for. I look pretty strong in the pictures but with my lungs not at full capacity the length of stride and speed had disappeared. My watch told me my heart rate got to 183bmp which is incredibly high for me (I’m normally at around 170bmp for maximum efforts) which showed how hard the body was working internally to keep me moving.

The right-hand turn in front of Buckingham Palace and huge finish line in front of every runner is a most welcome sight. With everything I had left I tried to go faster, remembering for once to at least put my hands in the air and enjoy the moment, I crossed the line in 3:25:44.

On one hand I wanted to go faster, and yet on the other it gives me a time to improve on next year if I’m lucky enough to be given another Good For Age place. There’s nothing a runner likes more than a new target. I now have a big one for London 2025 when I’ll aim to return fitter and healthier and get back under 3:15.

For now, it’s recovery time before some 10km races over the summer to work on speed. Hopefully we might all be able to enjoy a few runs that don’t involve getting wet.

If you’re wondering whether you want to run the London Marathon, then all I can say is: DO IT!! Enter the ballot, get a charity place…..you won’t regret it. I promise.

BLOG 42: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE READY FOR 26 BUT TAKE ON 62?

My heart will always lie with the road marathon. I think it’s the simplest and purest way of testing speed, stamina and mental strength.

However, I like to challenge myself in different ways which is why on Saturday I found myself on the start line for the 100km Race to the Stones. This is a superb ultra marathon starting Lewknor and finishing at Avebury, travelling along the hilly Ridgeway with plenty of variety along the way….and hills.

I completed Race to the Stones in 2019 but felt I had unfinished business as I took a tumble so wanted to have another go at staying upright, even though I knew I would be nowhere near my previous time of 10 hours 21 minutes.

Following the London Marathon in April, I have enjoyed three delightful cold bugs courtesy of nursery and the longest run I have managed was an off-road marathon with Running Tribe in May which was very slow and steady. I knew going from 26 to 62 miles in one leap was going to be very tough on the body, but I just hoped the mind was still strong enough to see me through what I knew would be 11-12 hours of running.

I ate pizza and did all the usual things I do before a race, feeling as ready as I could on the start line at 6.30am wearing my Saloman backpack which was in use for the first time in nearly four years. They are amazingly good bits of kit and incredibly comfy to wear.

I went off steadily, wanting to get into a strong sustainable rhythm, with the pace only changing dur to inclines. It was great to have each kilometre marked as it helped to create a sense of progress – after all it was only 10 times 10km runs I tried to tell myself….or 20 park runs!!

The weather was perfect to start with but rain was incoming. In the end it only consisted of three heavy showers and rain at the finish line so it could have been a lot worse. I was glad I didn’t bother to wear wet weather gear which always makes me far too hot.

One of the really important parts of ultra running is to get the nutrition and hydration right. Fuelling your body correctly is essential, and often means eating a bit more than you feel you really want. I have learnt over the years that when tackling longer than a marathon I need to stick to salty foods for the first half of any race as too much sugar makes my energy levels and peak and drop which makes me feel awful.

During the morning I had squash and peanut butter sandwich – a superb addition to the check points by the organisers – followed by some cold pasta and a bag of lovely salty crisps at the half way point. During the afternoon I had chocolate spread sandwiches (a great mix of carbs and sugar) and a couple of penguin bars with flat coke. All of it tasted delicious as the daily step count went over 100,000 for the first time in a long time.

As I tired two issues emerged – one I was expecting and one I was not. The legs got very tired, especially the quad muscles from the hills, but nothing that was beyond bearable. More annoyingly my feet developed some blisters which had not happened for many years. I was wearing Asics Gel-Nimbus 25s which I’d run the London Marathon in but with the longer distance, uneven terrain and dampness perhaps they were less well suited for this event. I rather wished I’d worn the Asics GT 2000s which are my old favourites and have never let me down. However, the soreness in the legs and on the blisters on the feet did not get much worse between the half way point and the finish line so was simply a case of applying mind over matter and pressing on.

What I clearly lacked in race sharpness I made up for in toughness. My ability to remain in a steady rhythm and simply keep putting one foot in front of the other had not left me. I am now also able to compare any running challenge to childbirth which frankly puts everything in context as no run, however far or tough, can rival the pain of giving birth.

I was over the final hill before the rain started to lash down and headed down the tarmac road for the finish at the best speed I had managed all day. The time might have been slower than four years ago – 11 hours 43 minutes - but the mind and body were still pleasingly strong, and the endorphins were as good as ever.

On getting home it was time to put the baby to bed before getting my kit into the washing machine and sinking into a hot bath, followed by eggs and bacon with a glass of prosecco. The simple things in life really are the best.

Recovery is going well…so much so I think it’s time to plan my next race….now do I go for 26 or 62 miles next time?!

BLOG 41: A BUZZING BRILLIANT LONDON MARATHON

A week on and the buzz of running my 14th London Marathon has still not faded. It was another amazing day with my fellow 48,598 runners and always something I like to reflect on given it’s my favourite running day of the year.

Although I’ve now run 70 marathons there is something special about London which sets it apart from every other race, even the other big city marathons, including the World Majors.

The nerves start a few weeks out and I always have a few panicky dreams about not being able to find my trainers, get to the start on time or getting lost on route as there are no signs and no one will help me. It’s a relief to wake up from these dreams and I always want to get out and do a long run to build up my confidence and calm the nerves.

This year preparation was rather different given the race was coming 17 weeks after I had my first baby. I had not known if it would be possible to run London marathon until I started doing some very easy runs in February. Pretty quickly I realised I have not lost any muscle memory and the body remembered how to run. The very first run felt almost odd, as if I was floating, without the weight of a baby given I had run throughout my pregnancy. I was fairly sure I could get around the marathon course but I only wanted to run it if I could be sure of coming home in under 3:40 to achieve a Good For Age qualifying time for 2024.

I had limited time to train – and was operating on a lot less sleep than my pre-baby days - so needed to make the most of the sessions I put in each week. I started with some longer slow runs to just build base fitness and the first time I ran a half marathon in 2:08 felt like a big step forward. The afternoon nap after it was excellent! However, as I tried to run the same distance a bit quicker over the following weeks I just didn’t get any faster which worried me, but perhaps I was expecting too much.

I introduced some very basic interval sessions to my training - 20 x 20 second sprints between two trees as part of my favourite ten mile loop. This seemed to sharpen me up a bit but I felt like my feet were spending far too long on the ground.

At the end of February I made it back to The Running School for some training session with Mike Antoniades and the team. They were incredibly accommodating and allowed me to bring baby with me who mostly behaved well, be it with Mike having to hold him during one session which was above and beyond what was expected from my wonderful running coach!

As ever Mike filled me with confidence and we focused on getting a strong rhythm which would keep me going, especially in the latter half of the race. The rhythm has to come from using my arms effectively, back and forward like pistons, allowing the legs to follow. Although we think of running with our legs, in fact the arms are just as important. With so much of my time spent holding an increasingly heavy baby in my left or right arm it was important to work on mobilising and releasing the shoulders with the myriad of clever exercises Mike has in his repertoire (Mike’s book Who Taught you how to run? Run Better, Run Faster, Prevent Injury is excellent further reading for anyone interested).

On the eve of the race I genuinely felt as ready as I could be and was fit and healthy having dodged any baby bugs in the previous weeks. Two weeks before London I’d raced a half marathon in 1:38 which was probably about 5 minutes off my standard time but had felt good and made 3:30 a realistic target.  

I headed to London – minus baby – for what I hoped would be a full night’s sleep for the first time since Christmas. As it was I was awake at 4.20am for no apparent reason other than habit I assume, but felt well rested on getting up at 6.15am to eat the usual breakfast of tea and peanut butter and marmite on toast before heading to the start.  

The atmosphere was as special as ever from the get-go. The tube and train journey gets the nerves going and this year I met my brother at Blackheath and we walked to the blue/yellow start pens together. The scale and logistics behind this incredible race never fails to amaze me. Less wonderful was the rain starting at 9.10am as we were all getting into race kit and putting our bags on the lorries. In my 14 years this proved to be my first wet London marathon but with the endorphins following I barely noticed the puddles we all had to splash through in various places.

My race plan was to be as consistent as possible, no fireworks, just strong consistent running for 26.2 miles. The good news is this is what I mostly did, the bad news is I only managed it for 18 miles. The early miles felt good and I was surprised to find myself with the 3:10 pacer as I focused on staying in my good rhythm and running mile to mile.

As I went through half way I was delighted to see my watch telling me I’d run it in just over 1:35. This made a finish time of 3:15 possible but far from easy. The next few miles went smoothly but as I went through 18 miles, alongside the 3:15 pacer, my legs were tightening and I realised I was going to have to work very hard to maintain my pace. Very quickly I gave up on the 3:15 target and realised 3:20 was a more realistic one.

Once I had done this the pressure was off a little bit as I knew I could keep doing the sub-8 minute miles I needed to achieve this. However, even this proved hard work and my arms had to pump back and forward to keep the rhythm I needed in order to maintain momentum from stride to stride. After the race my shoulder sockets ached as much as my legs!

Miles 20 – 24 were tough and I was incredibly grateful to run through the tunnel and on to the Embankment at mile 24 to enjoy the best two miles I run every year. The crowd was as fantastic as ever and I tried to keep my head up and run as tall and powerfully as I could, even though the legs ached and the fuel tank was emptying rapidly.

Heading up towards Big Ben with a mile to go I realised I was closer to 3:20 than I wanted to be so made an effort to pick up the pace. Through Parliament Square and said out loud to myself “This is a privilege…. now go home!!” which it absolutely is – to run the London marathon makes you a winner in life regardless of your finish time…but equally I was ready for the race to be over.

The last half mile always feels like it takes place in slow motion as the longed for finish line gets closer. I saw some friends which gave me a big boost as I tried to embrace the pain I was in turning right in front of Buckingham Palace and seeing the best finish line in the world. I always try and accelerate but the legs didn’t have much in them this year. Crossing the line in 3:19:19 I achieved something I was not at all sure was possible 17 weeks earlier when I had been joined by a 7lb 6oz baby boy!

The body was very tired but the mind was so very happy. I felt a bit sick which is always the sign I’ve worked very hard but that soon faded away. Recovery in the following days was slower than I expected but probably shouldn’t have been a surprise given the physical and mental effort I had put in to get within 23 minutes of my best marathon time.

Just as happily, my brother ran 3:23 on debut and has the marathon bug wanting to run other to see if he can go faster. Now I know I’ve still got the ability and desire to race I shall plan some more races, and of course be back at London in 2024. It’s simply a day I cannot miss.

BLOG 40: running into motherhood!

I’m not at all sure where the last four months have gone since I wrote about running the London Marathon with my passenger on board, but then that’s what happens when you have a baby, time just disappears.

On Christmas day I gave birth to Johnny Henry Arkell who is the blondest and most cheerful little person you could ever hope for. As someone who actively avoided babies for the first 38 years of my life it is reassuring to find that I am very fond of my own one – phew!

However, it turns out that while becoming a mother is an all-consuming affair it has not stopped me liking, and wanting to do, all the things I enjoyed when I wasn’t dealing with feeding, nappies, broken sleep and mountains of washing. And so we return to my favourite topic…..

I had to have a c-section after nearly 48 hours of labour so running was supposedly off the cards for six weeks, along boringly with driving. Certainly for the first couple of weeks I had no desire to do anything beyond a gently daily walk and getting in and out of bed three or four times a night felt like a proper physical test. But this was never going to last that long.

After three weeks and six days I broke out for a 40 minute run, and wow it was amazing! I still felt delicate but also so light with no baby to carry, and the freedom from caring responsibilities for just a few minutes felt liberating after spending every second of the day with my baby. I got a stitch at half way but was able to breath through it. It reassured me I was still runner.

It also made me realise how important it was for me to get out running regularly if I wanted to be content with my new lifestyle. This presented logistical challenges but a mixture of my other half and a wonderful ex-maternity nurse in our village came to my rescue. She now has Johnny three times a week for a couple of hours so I can run myself happy. This has proved lifesaving, as much for my other half as for me, with my mood so much improved for the return of my regular fix of endorphins. I am a much better and more enthusiastic mother now that I can most definitely still call myself a runner.

As I can’t resist a challenge I will be setting my sights on running the London Marathon again, for the 14th time, on 23rd April. This will be exactly 17 weeks after having my baby and, as ever, I am leaning on Mike Antoniades and the team at The Running School, to ensure I start and finish in one piece. I recently ran Hampton Court Half Marathon in 1 hour 43 minutes so there is plenty of work to do to get back to my usual speed, but equally I have to allow for the fact I am now training within a very different lifestyle.

As I wrote about running when I was pregnant, I wanted to share a few things I have learnt about running – and generally trying to be healthy and active - after having a baby. This list is by no means exhaustive and I am still very much learning at 10 weeks and counting. It is also my personal experience with every mother’s pregnancy and birth being very different and individual to them. But here goes….

1. You are starting from scratch after having a baby. When I first got on my roll mat to stretch two weeks after giving birth I felt like I hardly knew my body. My c-section made me feel pretty weak and as if nothing quite fitted together any more. I then did some basic weighted exercises but even lifting 2kg dumbbells felt tough. This made me realise, perhaps for the first time given I’d had a very good pregnancy, quite what impact having a child does to your body. It’s important to accept this at the start of the fitness journey.

2. Any form of movement – and time outside - helps make you feel good. I was clear that having had a c-section I would not be running for a bit and so I just embraced moving. Luckily this is not difficult with a baby as there is always plenty to do, along with two terriers who needed a daily walk. I always feel the need to get outside as have never been someone to spend all day indoors.

3. Sleep is far more important than you ever realised. At first I coped with the broken sleep incredibly well. After a month I still didn’t feel that tired but from six weeks my brain definitely ached some days simply from the lack of it. Sleep is essential for every part of our body’s recovery and strengthening process and very important for any athlete and anyone exercising regularly. It is simply impossible to be at your physical and mental best if you aren’t getting enough sleep as I am now all to aware.

4. Naps are essential for mind and body. I have never really been a huge nap person but from six weeks it became essential to have some time on the sofa most afternoons. Typically I nap three or four times a week for an hour and a half and it makes all the difference. Perhaps even more so now I am back running proper distances as the body needs the ability to recover. Luckily my baby and the dogs also enjoy a good nap so we’re all very happy together!

5. The sugar cravings are unreal. At the same time as the tiredness kicked in so did the sugar cravings. All I wanted for lunch was honey on toast, and I can eat any amount of chocolate if I let myself. I have tried to manage this by having loads of fruit and yogurt for breakfast to start the day with some natural sweetness, and also ensure I only eat sweet things as part of meals rather than snacking which I fear could become endless!

6. The structure of your day is no longer under your control. One of things I have found most difficult about having a baby to look after is that the structure of my day is no longer mine to decide. He determines when we’ll get up and when I might have some free time while he sleeps. This means I have to give up thinking “at 11am I will go on the cross trainer for 30 minutes” and instead say to myself “when he has a sleep I can go on the cross trainer for as long as the baby monitor tells me he is sleeping”. As a super organised person who has been the boss of my own time for years this is a massive change and one I am still getting used to. The only way you can definitely say you’ll do something at a certain time is if the activity can involve your baby, or if someone else is looking after your baby. The timing of any solo activity is now entirely controlled by the baby.

7. You are allowed to be more than just a mother. I have huge admiration – and some amazement – for women who can embrace motherhood so totally that they don’t mind giving up work, hobbies or activities they enjoyed before babies. While I am now a mother I still enjoy all of the things I enjoyed before Johnny turned up and do not want to give them up. I am willing to adapt things within my new lifestyle but not give things up entirely.

8. Looking after a baby is relentless. I don’t know what I expected but I now know motherhood is seriously hard work. There is simply no off switch like there is on a laptop. It absorbs more physical and emotional energy from you than any job you can be paid to do.

I am sure there are many more things I have to learn, and I shall seek to embrace these as they come along in the weeks, months and years ahead. Everyone says to enjoy these special times with your baby and that is something I am definitely doing every day. It is made all the easier for knowing I can still lace up my trainers and head out for a run, be it with rather more planning than used to be necessary.

Roll on 23rd April and another special day together on the streets of London. This time I’ll have a very special little person to meet up with at the end of the race, rather than making him run it with me as we did in October!

And finally, a huge thank you to Women’s Running for featuring me in their excellent article on running in pregnancy in the March edition – well worth a read.

BLOG 39: AMAZING LONDON AGAIN…THIS TIME WITH A PASSENGER ONBOARD!

Another year rolls around and with it the start of my 13th London Marathon which is always my favourite running day of the year (and possible favourite day of the year outright!)

This year was set to be very different, and possibly might not have happened at all. On returning from Boston Marathon in April (see previous blog) I discovered I was pregnant. Looking at diaries and dates, while descending into the morning sickness phase, I rather dismissed the chance of running London at what would be 28 weeks come the first weekend of October.

However, the pull of London is such that I never gave up on the idea. As I emerged out of constant “back of the coach” motion sickness I mentioned my idea to my coach Mike Antoniades on an evening session at The Running School. As I have learnt with Mike, he never says no to an idea, but also has the best, most honest and always accurate advice on any challenge. He made two incredibly practical points:

1. It’s easier to keep running in pregnancy if you’re petite and don’t put on too much weight as joints can only take so many extra pounds.

2. Being able to run into the third trimester will depend on where the baby sits and how comfortable this feels as the weeks progress.

On the first point, I am anything but petite so this could have been an issue, and on the second it seemed like you just had to take it week-by-week and see what happens.

As it turns out, now at 29 weeks, I have not found weight gain to be an issue (yet). My biggest problems with food have been bloating if I eat the wrong foods or too much, and generally not being sure what I feel like eating. From day one buttered crumpets have always been the safe option to fall back on.

So far baby has also behaved himself while being rather wriggly at times, but I take that as a good sign that he likes an active life.

So despite getting slower, and running through a hot summer, as the week’s ticked by the prospect of London got more real. I did less running with Mike and The Running School team, instead focusing on strength work and ensuring all my glutes and hamstrings were activating and my joints working in nice straight lines through the hips, knees and ankles. This has meant lots of “step and tops”, bent over rows and one-leg Romanian Dead Lifts (RDLs) for those of us familiar with the magic ways The Running School keeps you sound. Given I have a lot more of the relaxin hormone in my joints ensuring stability is absolutely key to preventing injury.

Once a bump starts to appear, which for me for not really until 16+ weeks, sit ups were no longer a good idea but there’s plenty of core work you can do standing up and twisting while holding a dumbbell or band to ensure core muscles are still strong and engaged.

Before I knew it I was collecting my London Marathon number and committed to be running 26.2 miles at 28 weeks pregnant.

The day was as epic as ever, with all the usual nerves, but rather less of the pressure given I knew my time would be much slower, loo stops would be needed and it was all about getting us home in one piece as opposed to what the clock said.

Rather than a blow by blow account of each mile, here’s the things I have learnt about running a marathon when pregnant – I hope they might be helpful to others.

1. Consistency does not exist when you’re pregnant and running. Both in training and during London, I have had miles where I feel fantastic and tick along as I always have, but then all of sudden a stitch strikes or something feels uncomfortable and I need to walk for a minute or so, before it wears off and I feel good again. This struck between miles 19-21 of London, possibly because I had not eaten enough, before I then started to feel better and sped up for the final 4+ miles. Equally, there will be whole days when you feel better or worse when pregnant, you really do have to just roll with it.

2. Sugar is not your friend. I have been for the diabetes test and my body is a-okay with sugar but it simply doesn’t make me feel that great any more. I much prefer peanut butter and marmite, to marmalade or jam, and my chocolate consumption is tiny! My favourite pudding is now fruit with live yogurt rather than a slab of diary milk. During London I had a small amount of Lucozade and a nut based cereal bar, instead of my usual jelly babies. After the race it was all about doughballs and pizza!

3. You do not need to eat for two. Keeping on the food front, I have found myself less hungry, not more, while pregnant (so far). The times I have been greedy have simply left me very uncomfortable. I have been thirsty though and cold water, tea, squash and pink lemonade have slipped down a treat.

4. Maintaining a strong running technique is vital. With the extra weight developing on your front, it is absolutely key to ensure you have the strongest possible running technique. This means keeping your head up and really using your arms to set a rhythm so you don’t tip forward, disengaging the glutes and hamstrings, straining the hips and knees and making a fall more likely. Without the pressure of trying to run fast I am quite pleased with my technique around London, which is far from perfect, but by no means too bad at all!

5. Stretching and Flexing keeps you moving. Like a lot of runners, I have often neglected stretching more than I should (where are the endorphins?!) but during pregnancy I have been more disciplined and have benefited from this. I do Pilates twice a week and try to do some stretching every day, even if only for 10 minutes. I am never 100% sure how different I feel for doing it until I don’t do it for a few days and most definitely notice. Movement of any form really is very good for us all.

6. Take inspiration and advice from others. As we all know in the running world there are some truly amazing people.  My inspiration when wanting to run London was Amber Miller who completed the Chicago marathon at 39 weeks, hours before giving birth. Amber said at the time “I am crazy about running” which I think a lot of us runners can relate to! There are also countless blogs and insights from women who have stayed active and running during pregnancy who are all inspirational to me.

I don’t know what the next few weeks will have in store for me, but the London marathon medal is packed away and the mascot teddy bear with his “We finished together” t-shirt has been purchased for when the little one makes an appearance.

While 3 hours 56 minutes goes down at the slowest of my 13 London marathons it is also one of the most satisfying, with so many happy memories. The big question now is when will I be back for my 14th London? For the moment that remains clearly “to be decided” as there are other things – and people – I need to focus on, but I will be back.

BLOG 38: BOSTON AT LAST!

It’s been two years in the planning but I finally made it to Boston Marathon!

In April 2020 I was set for Boston, my fifth World Major, but for reasons we are all too familiar with it did not happen. When the 125th Boston finally took place in October 2021, it was not possible for UK runners to visit the US and so I watched on from afar wondering if my time would ever come.

It turns out it was well worth the wait. As well as taking on such a great marathon with 30,000 other runners, it was a joy to visit an airport and get on a plane. You really don’t realise what you miss until you don’t do it for a couple of years.

I was lucky as marathon running superstar, author and all around great person, Becca Pizzi, who has completed World Marathon Challenge twice, was kind enough to have me to stay for a couple of nights and she and her family were incredibly welcoming. It is always so much more fun being out of the city centre than being stuck in a bland hotel. My pre-race run the day before the marathon let me see a bit of Boston I would not have found by myself. Becca also runs ice-cream emporium Moozy’s which is a must visit if you’re in the Belmont area – there’s even a ‘Becca 7’ flavour which of course I tried and its delicious!

Everything about Boston is just a little different. Firstly, you know everyone running has had to qualify. That means we’ve all likely run multiple marathons before making us a special breed of long-distance runner – the really dedicated sort. Then, on the day itself, you take a bus all the way to the start – luckily I dosed for much of this to blank out how far it was going to be back from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in the city centre.

We were incredibly luckily and after horror stories about what the weather can be like in Boston in April it was a glorious sunny day, and I was glad to have borrowed some of Becca’s sun cream. After waving goodbye to Becca who was on Wave 1, I warmed up and headed to the start for Wave 2. I felt unusually calm, I think perhaps still rather surprised this day had finally arrived.

On the start line my MP3 player decide it was worn out (always remember to check your gear, I hadn’t!) and so I knew I would be able to embrace every decibel of the atmosphere for the next 26.2 miles. This turned out to be blessing as it was fantastic every step of the way.

I had been told not to go off too fast as the first five miles is downhill. I think I thought it was going to be more downhill than it was but I got into a solid rhythm cruising nicely at well under eight minute miles.

I had not run a full road marathon since the previous October when I had ticked off my 13th London Marathon and second Manchester Marathon on consecutive weekends, so I was a little concerned how my legs would cope in the second half of the race.

As it happened my glutes and hamstrings felt a bit tight from about six miles in but that meant they were at least firing up to power me along, and in fact felt much the same for the remainder of the run.

Everything about Boston is just brilliantly done. The aid stations are long so I had my heels clipped only once all race, and you really got the feeling that the crowd are willing you on. This included those at Boston College who have the job of cheering every runner up the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” which you can see on the course map here.

I have run up many much bigger hills but there’s something about its position between miles 20 and 21 which makes it rather cruel. I came off Heartbreak Hill and pressed on feeling good that the hills were done with, only to realise a mile later there was still some way to go to the finish line!

I was chasing down 3:30 and knew that as long as I could be consistent with my pace I would come in under this target. However, as we made the few turns heading towards the line the clock seemed to be ticking away faster than the miles. In the end I made the final turn and looked up for the finish and tried my best to go as fast as the body would allow….and I made it home with 14 seconds to spare: 3.29:46. Phew, a bit closer than I thought!!

And there we were Boston done, and now it’s just Tokyo to go!

blog 37: back in the ultra game

Races are like trainers – we all have our old favourites but there’s nothing like trying out new ones.

I felt like this when I came cross Running Tribe at www.runningtribe.co.uk/ (via www.findarace.com/) which is a new company organising races from 10km to 40 miles in Buckinghamshire.

Despite being so close to London I have hardly ever run in Buckinghamshire so last Saturday it was a great chance to see a bit of the countryside I was not familiar with, while only taking an hour to get there.

I signed up for the 40 miler which I realised was my first Ultra in well over 18 months, but I have done three marathons this year so felt fit enough for it.

Ultras in many ways are easier as I don’t tend to chase the clock so much and I enjoy getting into a nice sustainable easy rhythm which allows the hours to tick by.

The course was six loops, making it easy to manage food and drink as I had five occasions to drink water, along with apple juice, and eat peanut butter and marmite sandwiches.

The race went well and I came home in 6 hours 56 mins for second place. The winner was another woman in a league of her own in 5 hours 58 minutes. It’s so good to see females taking the overall top spots on a near regular basis now!

The route was 80% off road with plenty of woodland to run through which is great fun but a danger for me as I can always find a tree root to fall over. On the very last wooded section of the sixth and final lap I was congratulating myself on not falling over, when only 30 seconds later I hit the deck tripping over a tree route. I was so cross with myself but no damage was done, other than to my favourite Ron Hill shorts which now have hole in.

I don’t get very excited by medals any more and only keep ones for marathon distances and upwards but I really like what the organisers have done for Running Tribe events. The medals are made of wood and are really light which is much cooler than a big chuck of metal or plastic which doesn’t feel very sustainable. I hope other race organisers look at similar options.

It’s now time for a couple more prep-races this month and it will be the London marathon on 3rd October. Simply one of the best days of the year.

Very sadly it doesn’t look like it will be possible to head out to the US for Boston on 11th October. It will have to go on the 2022 “to do” list.

Happy autumn running everyone!

BLOG 36: BACK RACING…AND LOVING IT!

We all know we’re far from completely through the pandemic but oh my it’s great to be back running races!

It’s been such a long time since I raced that I wondered if I was still going to enjoy it.

I’ve done a couple of half marathons and they went well enough, be it rather slow for me in 1:40 and 1:38.  Even though I know I was far my fittest, I just had to go out and run a marathon and see if it still gives me the same endorphin fuelled buzz I’ve enjoyed nearly 60 times to date.

So on Saturday I headed to Kempton Park to run 8 laps of the roads and tracks around the racecourse which totalled 26.2 miles. Having not run a marathon since December 2019 I really did think the wheels might come off in the last few miles but the outcome was better than I expected.

I went through half way in 1:40 and pressed on into second half. I had a bit of a wobble between 25-30km put forced a naked fruit bar down me with plenty of water and felt better. All the usual things happened to me which I have come to expect, including a small stitch for a few minutes as I converted on to my reserves for the end of the race and a slight tightening of the hamstrings and glutes as they got tired.

But pleasingly my pace didn’t drop as the miles ticked away. I focused on two key areas for me which I focus on at every session at The Running School:

• Using my arms like pistons by my side to set the rhythm and not letting them – especially the left one – cross my body which leads to the shoulders rolling left and right, as opposed to everything going forward; and

• Cycling both heels up to ensure the glutes and hamstrings are doing all the hard work in powering me along, and it’s not my quads and knees pulling me along (as that technique led to knee surgery 4 years ago!).

The end result was as good as I could have hoped for, crossing the line in 3:19.21.

Best of all, I went swimming later in the day and did loads of stretching and was out running 9 miles the next day. I haven’t quite got the speed and endurance levels I built up for World Marathon Challenge in 2019 but mentally and physically I’ve definitely still got it!

There’s plenty of hard work ahead this summer with loads of races to run but I can’t wait to be building up the London marathon in October, followed eight days later by the Boston marathon.

The joy of running – and racing – is alive and well in my world! I hope it is in yours as well.

BLOG 35: WORLD BOOK DAY - EAT SLEEP RUN REPEASE….AND READ!

Plenty has changed for us all in the last year but one thing I have particularly enjoyed doing, along with running, is picking up a book.

Like lots of people I am sure, I now spend many hours each day looking a screen and on calls. By the end of the day I find I hardly even want to watch much TV because it simply feels like staring at another screen (a few programmes still make the cut including MasterChef and the upcoming new series of Line of Duty).

The simple pleasure of picking up a book and reading never fails to entertain and relax me.

I’ve done plenty of learning and thinking in lockdown, particularly about race which I have not given enough thought to in my life. I can recommend White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and The Power of Privilege by June Sarpong.

I don’t read as many novels as I’d like to as I’m so often drawn to the factual world but I absolutely loved losing myself in the worlds of Marie-Laure and Werner in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

If you haven’t read the 1970s classic The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough you have a real treat to look forward to. It is one of the books that got me reading in my early teens, along with The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

In the world of running books, Relentless Forward Progress by Bryon Powell left a lasting impression and North: Finding my way on Appalachian Trail written by Scott Jurek with his wife Jenny helped inspire my own book. The contrasting views on their epic challenge Scott achieved with Jenny’s support was a model Mike Antoniades and I followed when writing Running Around the World: How I ran 7 marathon on 7 continents in 7 days.

With today marking World Book Day, I was really pleased to be asked by my lovely publishers Rethink Press to get involved and read a passage from my book.

This chapter is about being in the depths of training and is called Eat Sleep Run Repeat. I hope it gives a good sense of what it was like to get ready for the challenge.

Whatever books you enjoy I wish you many happy of reading….and running!

BLOG 34: the return of an old friend at the end of a long year

What a year it has been. A very strange mix of ongoing uncertainty with day-to-day monotony.

We have not been able to plan our lives for more than a few weeks at a time, while we have had days that replicate each other one after another.

I am someone who likes a routine but when I find myself going for a run at exactly the same time three evenings in a row it starts to become too much of a good thing. I do at least sometimes mix up the running routes!

In April (Blog 28), I wrote about how Nutella has gone into lockdown in my life.

My consumption had got out of control, with Nutella on toast for lunch being the breaking point. The expulsion of the chocolate spread felt like a good decision and I didn’t seem to miss it at all.

Fast-forward to some darker and colder days, and I suddenly felt a draw to the forbidden pot, despite peanut butter, marmite, marmalade and an excellent homemade plum jam had sustained my quite serious toast habit for months.

I could have fought it but somehow thought “I don’t have the energy”. So over the last few weeks of dark days in December I have had Nutella about twice a week, spread very thickly on toast and crumpets – the latter being a new creation which I can highly recommend, sweet comfort food at its best.

I don’t seem to be eating Nutella with quite the aggression I was in spring time and it’s nice to think I don’t have to complete expel it from my life, but can perhaps enjoy it in something called ‘moderation’ which is not a specialty of mine.

It’s been a long year for all of us and if we need a treat let’s roll with it…and remember to keep moving at the same time to aid our well-being and happiness.

So happy Christmas to you all, enjoy some festive walks and chocolates wherever you are and see you in 2021.

BLOG 33: EXERCISE IN LOCKDOWN

Like plenty of others I am finding this second lockdown a bit surreal. It has the same rules as the first one but a different feel to it.

This time there’s no sunshine and it all seems just a little bit more tedious than it did first time around when there was an element of novelty to our new routines. It’s also clear now that what we’re all going through in 2020 will have a long-term impact on all of us.

But as ever running, and exercise, can always come to the rescue in helping us feel better.

With no gyms open, and dark mornings and evenings, it’s time to be a bit more imaginative about ways we can get moving.

Here’s a few things I am enjoying at the moment should you need a few ideas or a bit of inspiration:

• Good Stretch online classes: For years I have said I must take up yoga and work on my flexibility. I have now finally conceded I am simply not a yoga person. However, I have committed to do at least one Good Stretch online class a week which I am really enjoying. An hour of stretching potentially sounds a bit dull but the sessions are both imaginative and tough. I definitely feel taller after each one and am more conscious of my different muscle groups which has to be a good thing. All you need to take part is a matt, with cushions (from the sofa), blocks (or books) for support and a stretchy band for some exercises being useful extra props.

• Joe Wicks Body Coach sessions: I have always preferred running to HITT sessions but when time is short it’s amazing how much you can puff and sweat in 20 minutes. Joe’s sessions are so accessible and get me doing moves I would always avoid by myself, such as the dreaded burpees! With hundreds of sessions to choose there’s no reason to ever get bored, and the short ab blast sessions are fantastic too. A perfect way to exercise if the weather is grim or you just feel like doing something a bit different. Thanks Joe!

• Running School Drills: Every week I still do the exercises and drills I’ve been taught by the Running School team which have - *touches wood* - kept me sound since 2017. This includes work with bands and dumbbells to strengthen my glutes and hamstrings to ensure they do all the hard work so my joints, especially my knees, have a pretty easy time as I clock up the miles. Talking of which….

• Running: I have in no way deserted running as with working from home I feel I have to get out for some fresh air at least once a day. Given the number of people our running on the streets and in the parks of London I am clearly not the only one which I find enormously comforting. We may not communicate – beyond a quick glance of eye contact to determine who is on the inside or outside of the pavement when passing each other – but as runners we’re all in this together.

So whatever you’re up to in this lockdown I hope exercise is helping you can stay positive, feel good and be amazing!

BLOG 32: the rule of three…..trainers

I have always liked things in threes.

From a Starter, Main and Pudding through to Goldilocks’ three bowls of porridge, things in threes have a clear beginning, middle and end which is satisfyingly complete.

The Romans called this ‘omne trium perfectum’ meaning everything that comes in threes is perfect. This is still a well-used rule for oratory as things in threes are easy to remember.

‘YES WE CAN’. Bet we all remember that.

In my world of running I like to apply the rule of three to my trainers.

Naturally, I always have my current pair of trainers which I am running in. These I my friends and we do something together every day. I try and look after them, but they live a busy life and the miles will take their toll.

So alongside them I always have the next pair of trainers I am going to wear. The ones that come out of the box all shiny and new, promising many happy miles ahead, and the intangible belief that they might just be the shoe that makes me go faster and further than ever before.

The final pair of trainers I always own are what I call “the old faithfuls”. These have done the training miles, normally plenty of races (not so in 2020 sadly) and are now in retirement. This means they are the trainer of choice for a dog walk, mowing the lawn or popping to the shops. They will often have a very long and happy retirement until they are completely covered in mud, with no grip left and holes appearing. Only at this point might I say reluctantly say goodbye to them.

I love my trainers.

blog 31: let’s celebrate what we can do

To date this blog has focused primarily on running, and anything connected with it. Indulge me while I go a little broader with these musings.

At the moment we live in a world where there is a lot of focus on what we can’t do.

I think we have it the wrong way around. I wish we were better at focusing on what we can do.

I remember watching an episode of Sesame Street when I was small which always included a “word of the day”. The word of the day for that episode was no. All the characters had to answer each question posed to them with the answer no. They had to say no when asked if they wanted to play in park, and most vividly I remember Cookie Monster having to say no when he was offered a delicious cookie. I found this particularly painful as I think Cookie Monster and I probably share similar very healthy appetites.

I’ve always hated having to say no to something. If I am offered an invitation or new opportunity or am luckily enough to be the confidant of a new idea I always like to say yes, or at least have something positive to respond with.  I find negativity very wearing, be that in my personal or professional life.

Being eternally positive has taken me to some interesting places and offered up challenges I never thought I would be brave enough to take on. From World Marathon Challenge to my recent appointment as Chair of the Diversity in Racing Steering Group, I like to keep pushing myself to see what I can do and hopefully make positive contribution on the world around me.

In challenging times, as we currently find ourselves, it’s much too easy to focus on the negative and what is not possible when exactly the opposite is needed.

If we all take on just a single small positive act a day, either to look after and help ourselves or those around us, I really believe we have the collective power to change the world for the better. There is no “them” only all of us.

And if you want to be truly inspired try watching Rising Phoenix on Netflix about the history and achievements of the Paralympics. Incredible stories from amazing people which goes absolutely to the heart of celebrating what we can do.

Because, as I like to say, we really can all be amazing.  

BLOG 30: PODCASTS….BE INSPIRED!

Everyone knows runners love running but we also know runners love talking about running!

Having never done a podcast before I’ve now been asked to be a guest on three and I thought I’d share the links in case you’d like a listen to any of them – they are packed with amazing women!

BLOG 29: WHAT MAKES US HAPPY?

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week which this year is themed around kindness.

It is a perfect opportunity to think about what really makes us all happy, as what could be more kind than that for ourselves and those around us.

In these odd, but strangely simplified times, it seems so many of the things we are told by society to desire are not necessarily what we want at all. Who really cares about swish cars, fancy clothes or posh over-priced restaurants?

It’s the luxury of freedom a car gives you which many are missing as we’re not travelling as much as usual. Fancy clothes are fun not because they are fancy, but because it means we’re going out, seeing people and probably having fun. A posh restaurant is a break from the norm, a chance to spoilt for a few hours – personally I’d pick Byron Burger or Pizza Express any day!

What really matters is freedom (provided by transport), socialising with other people (perhaps in fancy clothes) and variety (like eating somewhere different) not the cars, clothes and restaurants themselves.

So, if there is any positive to be taken out of 2020 so far, it is perhaps that we might come out of this better able to understand what makes us happy.

I’ve discovered a new pleasure in mowing the lawn. I’ve spent many happy hours mowing lines and circles into the lawn with my mind set on cruise control while completing what turns out to be a seriously satisfying task.

Above all I believe space make me happy, which we’re lucky to have plenty of in Shropshire. Space to run, space to walk the dogs, space to think. That is definitely what makes me happy.

If we all do one thing this Mental Health Awareness Week, we could do a lot worse than to work out what really makes us happy.

blog 28: why the Nutella POT had to go into lockdown

We live in strange times with routines out the kilter and a different pattern to the day for most of us.

There has been almost endless commentary about how to stay fit and healthy in lockdown. From home workouts to healthy recipes, there seems no excuse not to see consistent self-improvement.

But as we all know life doesn’t work like that. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we will do it. We have to want to do it.

My one health conscious decision is to ban Nutella for the duration of lockdown.

I love Nutella but it was getting out of control. I said to myself if I wanted Nutella on toast for breakfast every day that was ok in lockdown. This started to look like it might be an issue when it became clear lockdown was going to continue for months not weeks.

The breaking point came when I also wanted Nutella on toast for lunch. I was busy working from the kitchen table so not far from the toaster and massive pot of Nutella. For the second time in the day a thick layer of Nutella was spread on toast and tasted absolutely delicious.

In my world, Nutella twice a day is not acceptable, so the Nutella has had to go.

I’ve now done a week without Nutella and I feel in control of the situation.

My advice is to do whatever you need to do to be in control of the situation, but remember it often only needs to be the small things which can make us feel amazing!

BLOG 27: WE MIGHT NOT BE RUNNING MARATHONS BUT…. 

We might not all be running the marathons we expected to be lining up for this spring but there are still plenty of reasons to be positive.

Top of this list for me is April’s edition of Women’s Running Magazine which is the best edition yet!

It’s a marathon special and packed full of information and helpful tips about running marathons. It is an absolute must read, whether you’re mildly interested in how to run 26.2 miles or totally obsessed with running 26.2 miles….like me!

I have offered a top tip about underwear…. or rather the lack of it when I run. I’d be keen to know how many other women take this approach or is it just me?! If you’re willing to share please drop me a line at info@beamazingpt.co.uk, or @TheIronLadyRuns on twitter or beamazing_personaltraining on Instagram as I’d be really interested to hear your approach to this delicate subject.

I first met Women’s Running’s fab editor, Esther Newman, when we chatted on the phone after I had returned from World Marathon Challenge last year. She is always so positive and enthusiastic, a great example of just one of the many wonderful people in the world of running.

Esther is now a dedicated student of The Running School. April’s edition of the magazine contains a four page “Back to School” feature which is a superb insight into how my coach Mike Antoniades and his team get all of us moving so much better and staying injury free.

Finally, there’s also a chance to win a signed copy of my book “Running Around The World: How I ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days” which I wrote with Mike. You just need to answer a simple question, fill out your details and click “enter”. All
the details you need can be found here: https://www.womensrunning.co.uk/competitions/win-a-personalised-signed-copy-of-susannah-gills-book/.

Whatever you’re up to at the moment, I hope you’re still able to enjoy some running and most importantly staying safe and healthy.

blog 26: taking it to the max

I have written and spoken often about the wonderful things that have happened since World Marathon Challenge and one of them has been becoming an ambassador for SportsAid.

This bought me into contact with the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health (ISEH) which is based in central London. It’s an incredible place which is the forefront of medicine, sporting performance and helping all of us live healthier lives.

The ISEH team were in need of a guinea pig to do a Maximal Oxygen Consumption Test in front of some potential new students and of course I couldn’t resist.

The words Maximal Oxygen Consumption Test might not sound familiar to you but if I said VO2 Max Test you’d probably know what I am talking about. It has a new name but is the same concept, namely of finding the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilise during intense or maximal exercise.

This can be done of the bike or a treadmill and no guessing which one I opted for. It’s a strange experience to be fitted with a heart monitor band and a face mask connected to all sorts of wires leading into a complex machine., however it all ran like clockwork (no pun intended!!)

After an 8 minute warm up the pace started to increase each minute from 10km/hour up to 16km/hour where upon the incline was increased until eventually I couldn’t run anymore and had to step to the side of the treadmill.

At first it was fairly straightforward and even at 16km/hour it felt comfortable for me but as the incline increased the burning in the muscles starts and despite the support from the students behind me I had to stop as my legs were screaming at me.

Crucially, what did this masochistic test tell us about my performance. The takeout’s are:

• I have a pretty high VO2 Max at 57. A female of my age (35) would typically have one of between 35 and 40, although a very fit 20-year old could be up at the 60/70 mark. The chart with typical scores Maximal Oxygen Consumption Test is posted below with this article.

• My anaerobic threshold (or lactate threshold), known as VT2, was high at 51.2. This relates to the work I can do before I start to produce more lactic acid than my body can clear. A high score reflects fitness and is typical for a marathon runner who aims to sit just below this level for a long period of time while running at the same pace.

• My maximum heart rate got to 186 which is exactly what you would expect given it’s typically estimated to be 220 minus your age.

As well as the test, I also stood on a Body Composition Analyzer which is a seriously clever (and expensive) piece of kit which tells you how your body is made up.  I was hoping mine would not just say “she’s mostly Nutella and mini eggs!”. The level of detail it provides in incredible and included for me:

• I’m 19.2% fat (21-32 being typical for my age/sex).

• I’ve got 51.3kg of muscle (with 42.3 – 53.5kg being desirable
  for someone of my age/sex).

• I have a BMI of 21.8 (in the healthy range) and a metabolic
  age of 20 which I’m very happy about!

The machine could even show that I have 0.1kg more muscle in my left leg than my right leg. This was fascinating as my right knee was operated on in 2016 and at that point my right leg was much weaker than my left so it’s good to see they are nearly a pair again (which is all down the amazing team at the Running School and the strength work they have me doing).

It’s an odd experience to be analysed so closely but also a fascinating one. It makes you appreciate what incredible bodies we all have, and it makes me want to look after mine as well as I possibly can.

Being competitive I am now of course longing to get fitter and improve all my scores! For the time being I shall settle for joining a fascinating ISEH study about the impact of running on the Achilles tendon and calf muscles.

I believe in constantly learning and it’s inspiring to be able to work with some of the brilliant students and doctors at the ISEH. Running continues to take me to amazing places.

BLOG 25: STORIES, ADVENTURES, AMBITIONS AND DREAMS AT THE NATIONAL RUNNING SHOW

I have stated at the start of my book “Running Around The World” I would rather talk about running than almost anything else. Its wonderful simplicity and yet endless complexities fascinate me.

If you are a bit of a running geek like me I can highly recommend a visit to the National Running Show which was held at the NEC last weekend and attended by nearly 25,000 people.

I was there for the first time and I can honestly say its one of the loveliest and most positive events that I have had the pleasure to be involved with.

I was there with The Running School team who had a fantastic interactive stand where visitors got involved in DMS (Dynamic Movement Skills) which is key to moving and running well, along with Live Biomechanical Analysis of runners.

The Running School team were very busy on both days, such was the number of the people of all ages who wanted to get involved.

I was lucky enough to speak on the Inspiration Stage on Sunday morning which was the biggest live audience I’ve spoken in front of so far. A big thanks to ace event organisers Mike Season and Becky Pinner for including me alongside a brilliant list of speakers.

The best bit of the weekend was all the conversations I had with people who visited the stand after my talk. I never tire of hearing the stories, adventures, ambitions and dreams that revolve around running. Putting one foot in front of the other is such an uplifting and unifying activity and this will always amaze me.

The National Running Show will be in London on 13th and 14th June and it looks like being another great event. The Running School team and I will be attending – see you there!

blog 24: running into 2020!

New year, new running plans.

World Marathon Challenge was such a massive adventure but as ever with running the next potential challenge is never far away!

I am already back in proper marathon training which means the return of sprint intervals into my life. As I set out in my book, Running Around The World, this is a crucial element of training as intervals build aerobic capacity which helps maintain a better pace for a longer period of time – the key to running a faster marathon.

As part of my training, I will be doing plenty of races as this keeps things interesting. I am fired up by competition, even if it means the alarm clock going off early on a Sunday morning.

My races will kick off with the Gloucester 50km later this month to see what sort of shape I am in, followed by some half marathons to work on my speed.

I am aiming to be fully fit by April which promises to be a very busy month. I’ll  be returning to Manchester Marathon 5th April as I enjoyed it so much last year and would love to run another fast time if I can. I will then head to Boston Marathon on 20th April before backing this up quickly with my 12th London Marathon the following Sunday – always an amazing day!

Later in the year I want to have a go at some more Ultras as getting off road is good fun in the summer when there’s not too much mud and hopefully a bit of sunshine to enjoy.

Before all of this I am really excited to speaking at the National Running Show at the NEC on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th
January. It promises to be a great couple of days and I can’t wait to hear from some of my running heroes – there are too many to name but the full list can be found here.

I will be speaking on the Inspiration Stage on Sunday morning and joining the Running School team on their stand for both days. They will be doing LIVE Biomechanical Analysis everyday of 4 runners and sharing their insights on efficiency and injuries and getting people involved in DMS (Dynamic Movement Skills) which is such a key element of moving and running well.

Running School founder and my coach and co-author, Mike Antoniades, and I will be giving regular talks about our book which will be available to buy on the stand.

If you’re into running The Running Show is the place to be. See you there!

BLOG 23: 2019….IT’S BEEN QUITE A SWEATY YEAR!

I’ve been trying to work out how to write about 2019. It’s tough for me to do it justice as it’s simply been amazing. 

However, I am very glad we do not have the power to see into the future as if I knew how much work – and sweat – it was going to involve I might never have been brave enough to tackle any of it.

When I set out on the World Marathon Challenge adventure, I simply wanted to run the best seven marathons in seven days across each continent. I had no idea what this would really look like in terms of time for each race but hoped it would be a great adventure.

In the preceding months I had trained harder than I had ever trained before. I arrived in Cape Town for the start of the competition knowing I was as fit as I could reasonably be but not knowing if it would be enough to see me through the week ahead.

Well what a week it was! Every race was special and amazingly I was the new World Record Holder at the end of it.

Giving up on words, I wanted to find an image to try and summarise everything 2019 has contained. I have plenty of pictures from cool places which I could have chosen but that wouldn’t tell the real story.

This is the truthful picture for 2019. It was taken on a hot evening in July at the end of another tough interval session on the treadmill. I look elated and exhausted at the same time. The endorphins are flowing and yet I suspect I was already looking forward to food and sleep. This was the state I spent much of 2019 in.  

I think this picture perfectly summarises the emotions running generates for me – I love it but it’s tough, and maybe that’s the key to why I find it so satisfying.

blog 21: running around the world - the book

When I took up running, I never intended to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. I certainly never intended to then write a book about it.Now I find, somewhat to my surprise, that both of these things have happened.

Running Around the World: How I ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days is available to buy!

You can buy the book here on Amazon.

All of this is in no small part due to my amazing coach and running expert Mike Antoniades (@MikeAntoniades) so it seems fitting to have written the book together.

I hope it will be enjoyable and useful in equal measure for anyone who chooses to read it.

In the course of writing it this year, I became aware how few running books there are by women, in comparison to the many I have enjoyed which are written by men. I am glad to be able to re-address this balance to the power of one.

If anyone has any questions about the book, please do get in contact with me. My details are here on the website and I am always very happy to talk about running!

I am also looking forward to being at The National Running Show  (@nationalrunshow) at the NEC on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January where I’ll be giving a talk and also joining The Running School team on their very popular stand.

Keep running…. you never know where it will take you!

blog 20: the end of the road…..for 2019!

It is with some sadness that I say I have completed my final marathon… but only for 2019!

I added up how many marathons and ultras I have raced since 22nd September 2018, my first marathon as part of World Marathon Challenge training, and it came to 29 marathons and four ultra-marathons in just over a year. 

This is a grand total of 970 miles! Previously, I typically ran three or four marathons a year, so it’s been a fair step up in intensity.

I knew when I took on running the challenge of running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days my mileage would increase but I had no idea I would end up racing this much. I’ve learnt a few new things along the way:

1. Food: Good nutrition (aka eating lots of mostly the right foods) is really important. In some races I could keep myself going for miles by dreaming of my post-race stuffed crust pizza. My favourite pre-race food is still peanut butter and marmite on toast, or in sandwiches if eating on the move.

2. Nerves: These are a good thing. All my best races have always come when I am a bit nervous. They make me sharper, more focused and more determined to put in the effort when it’s needed.

3. Fellow runners make races: I have run so many races because I prefer getting the long miles in with other people around me. Those mid-race conversations in the middle of a 100km or a post-race chat about how we found the course really do bond runners together.

4. Every marathon hurts: It doesn’t matter how many marathons you run at no point do they get any easier. Every marathon tests your physical and mental capabilities, which is perhaps why we all enjoy them so much.

And so, what now? I am having a few (slightly) easier weeks before commencing strength work as I need to get stronger if I am going to get any faster. I already have a busy 2020 planned with entries for Manchester Marathon, Boston Marathon and London Marathon which all fall in April. But now I’ve run seven marathons in week, three in a month should be easy right? No! (see point 4 above)

Finally, when I was in Chicago last week for my final marathon of the year I succumbed and found myself buying the much talked about Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% trainers. They are still sat in their box but at some point I will give them a go and see what everyone is raving about.

I am also in the final stages of completing a book…. but more of that in the next blog.

blog 19: an ultra good summer

In Blog 13, I shared with you that this summer I would be focusing on some ultras so I thought it was about time I updated you on how it’s all gone.

I will always consider myself a ‘marathon runner’ as opposed to an ‘ultramarathon runner’ but I have already done a small number of the latter. These include traditional ones, such as the 35-mile Two Oceans in Cape Town, as well as the more unusual 100km Pharaonic race in Egypt which finished at the pyramids and a 24-hour race around Gosforth Park near Newcastle where I covered 105 miles – both of which I won.

In 2017 I really enjoyed Action Challenge’s 100km Thames Path Challenge which I completed in 10 hours 17 minutes. After winning World Marathon Challenge I decided my next target would be to see if I can could run the same 100km course in under 10 hours. This was refreshingly different to running more marathons and seemed a realistically achievable target.

Things didn’t get off to the best start. I found Race to the Tower, a double marathon (52.4 miles), very tough due to the wet condition and big hills and finished in what I considered a disappointing 9 hours 35 minutes. I clearly wasn’t quite in an ‘ultra mindset’ yet.

On a bit of a whim I decided to take on the 100km Race to the Stones in July as I had heard it was a great route. I was not disappointed and ran a much more respectable 10 hours 21 minutes over the hilly route on a glorious summer’s day. However, I took a big tumble at the 20km mark and hit my nose and knees pretty hard which left me a bit dazed and must have slowed me down a bit.

In August, I tackled the Bath Festival of Running Marathon which I won, giving me a free entry into the Two Tunnels 50km race later in the month which seemed too good to pass up. This was a fast, flat course but I felt very tired and had a sore stomach for the first 30km. It improved in the latter stages and I managed second place in 4 hours and 12 minutes. This was the sort of pace I was going to need to run in the first half of a 100km race if I was to go under 10 hours.

The 7th September dawned bright and cool and I had a good feeling about the Thames Path Challenge. Although it had been a busy week at work, my resting Heart Rate was down to 44 beats per minute and I had eaten well in preparation.  The route is an ideal one for a PB attempt as it’s flat all the way between Putney and Henley with only a few sharp turns, bridges and gates to navigate.

The race went very smoothly. My hamstrings and glutes started to ache after 30km but weirdly this pleased me as it meant my running technique was holding up well and I was using my big strong muscles to power me along. Crucially, the ache didn’t get any worse and everything felt strong. Coach Mike had text me at I was getting ready to say ‘remember the arms’ (see previous blog below for context) which really helped as I made sure to use my arms to set the rhythm and power me along the tow path.

I went through half way in 4 hours 18 minutes so knew I was nicely on target. For the second half I dropped the pace to an even 10km per hour. I fell into stride with another runner after the last check point with 12km to go and we both agreed we could make it home in under 9 hours 30 minutes. So, I put the burners on and ran really hard for the next 6km meaning I was able to cruise into Henley, over the bridge and into the field next to the station to cross the line in 9 hours 27 minutes.

This made me the first woman and 7th overall, and faster than any of the other winners engraved on the Thames Path Challenge shield, which included my 2017 time.

As ever, on achieving a self-set target I just felt relieved rather than actually happy.  In the evening I had an ice bath and ate a massive pizza which meant I felt good enough for a gentle 30-minute treadmill run the next day – now that did make happy!

So, it really was an ultra-good summer. I shall now be returning to marathons with Chester on 6th October, before heading out to Chicago the following weekend to hopefully tick off my 4th World Major.  

BLOG 18: ARMS RACE

Running is all about our legs, right? Not quite.

If you want to run faster or further your secret weapon is actually your arms.

Try this when you’re next running – while cruising along at the steady pace pump your arms backwards and forwards in a faster tempo and see what happens to your legs. As if by magic your legs will pick up the new rhythm set by your arms and you will go faster.

This is all to do with the biomechanics of the body and it’s very useful to be aware of as it can really help in the latter stages of the race when you start to get tired. It doesn’t matter how tired your legs are they will follow your arms.

When I started running, I don’t think I gave any thought at all to what my arms were doing. Yet now, along with my heel circle, my arms are probably the main thing I focus on when working on my technique with The Running School team.

Ideally you want to carry your arms with a 90-degree bend in and have them working like pistons by your side – back and forward, back and forward. It sounds so simple, but it takes a lot of practice to do this consistently well.

Interestingly, our arms do not always work as a pair. My right arm is fairly well behaved and consistent, but my left arm likes to do its own thing which leads to my elbow sticking out and a much more inefficient action. This is perfectly demonstrated in the picture with this blog which was taken during a recent 50km race.

So, if you want to go faster it really is an arms race.

BLOG 17: WHY DO WE RUN?

After all the miles I’ve covered on my own two feet I still find myself asking the very basic question: why do we run?

On Sunday I got up at 4.30am to drive to Bath to run the Relish Running Two Tunnels 50km Ultra. On my way back to London I got to thinking what is it is about running which makes me voluntarily get up at silly o’clock in the morning?

This was particularly relevant as it had not been an easy run on Sunday. I felt pretty awful for the first 30km with tired legs and a sore stomach before my body decided to get back to ‘normal’ and produce a very solid last 20km to finish in 4 hours 12 minutes for 2nd place (the winner was over 12 minutes ahead of me).

Even though it was a long way from my best race I was still incredibly glad I’d run and I’m already looking forward to my next race – Woldingham marathon – this Sunday. Why is this?

Millions of words have been written about running but for me the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has nailed it when he talks about ‘a state of flow’ being the secret to happiness. His TED Talk on the subject is worth a watch.

Running is hard work, but it is essentially doable for most people. This accessibility makes it so enticing as it’s something we can all engage with.  From a two-and-a-half-hour marathon to a five-and-a-half-hour marathon, it’s all just running, and it creates a state of flow in all of us.  We are deeply involved in the activity and it’s challenging us, but we know that if we stick to it, then the end goal (of completing the run/race) is feasible which entices us to keep moving forward.

John Kay, the economist, puts it succinctly in an article on obliquity:

“Although we crave time for passive leisure, people engaged in watching television reported low levels of contentment. Csikszentmihalyi’s systematic finding is that the activities that yield the highest for satisfaction with life require the successful performance of challenging tasks. These moments are encountered as frequently in work as outside it, and they constitute the state of mind which Csikszentmihalyi describes as flow. “Flow tends to occur when a person’s skills are fully involved in overcoming a challenge that is just about manageable.”

I think this absolutely nails it. Running creates a state of flow. A state of flow makes us happy.

This is why we run.

blog 16: running on a knee to know basis

This week marks three years since I had surgery on my right knee. If someone had said to me then ‘don’t worry, your biggest and best runs are still ahead of you’ I would most definitely not have believed them.

I hope my story can give hope to anyone who has experienced knee issues.

Given the impact going through the joint on every stride, running gets a bad rap for how it can damage knees.  However, the body is tough and completely built to withstand, and indeed benefit, from running, on one important proviso – the weight being put through the knee joint is done so in the way nature intended it.

Alas, I had a fairly terrible running technique before I worked with the Running School.  I would lean forward, almost dragging myself along, with my quads doing most of the work while my glute and hamstring muscles didn’t do much at all. I also allowed by feet to cross over which meant my knee joints were working at an angle as I did not put my feet down directly under my hips (which is also a superb way of tripping yourself up!)

My body coped with more years of running in this style than I deserved it to, but inevitably I eventually broke. In the 2015 London marathon I broke 3 hours for the first time while also damaging my right knee to the point I could no longer run, and on some days even walking was painful.

This turned into a drawn-out saga but let’s cut to the good news. An MRI scan revealed I had damaged the cartilage in my knee with the little bits of cartilage left floating around the joint causing pain and leaving the bones to rub on each other. This is such a common running problem it’s often called ‘runners’ knee’.

Under the guidance of the brilliant team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital I had keyhole surgery (formally called an arthroscopy) in July 2016 and have been pain free ever since.

Along with the surgery, the major reason I am still running is that I now have a far more solid technique which is all down to the Running School. I am more upright in my body, powering myself along with my glutes and hamstrings, combined with a solid and more reliable arm swing to set the tempo. 

It’s hard to explain the transformation in words but this 30 second video does a pretty good job in illustrating it (still from video below).

I am so enormously grateful to our amazing NHS for mending me and Mike Antoniades (@MikeAntoniades) and the team at the Running School (@RunningSchool) for showing me how to run.

So, after all if this, my conclusion is that running is not bad for knees, bad running is bad for knees. This can be avoided with appropriate advice on technique and training which is all you really knee to know to keep running!!

BLOG 15: NEVER STOP LEARNING

I’ve learnt a lot since winning World Marathon Challenge and one of the most important lessons for me is that we should never stop learning.

As a world record holder people often think you know it all, or at the very least you know more than they do.  But I feel like I’m only just starting to know anything about running.  It simply doesn’t matter how many races you have trained for and completed, there are always things you can get better at and improvements you can make to your performance.

My heart will always be with the road marathon. I love the randomness of the number 26.2 coming to dominate the running community.  It is even the number being used as the frontier for testing the capabilities of the human body as we explore if it’s possible to go under two hours for a marathon – all eyes on Eliud Kipchoge as he attempts to break the two-hour barrier in Venice on 12th October.

However, sometimes it’s good to push your boundaries.  Last weekend I ran the 100km Race to the Stones ultra which runs along the Ridgeway, the oldest path in Great Britain, starting in Oxfordshire and finishing at the Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire. It was a perfect day for running (be it with factor 50 sun cream on) and I was happy with my finishing time of 10 hours 21 minutes for 5th place.

I’m no pro at ultras but I enjoy the outlook they give you.  The freedom to run a big distance and not fixate on the time (too much). There’s simply something rather liberating about running all day. The rest of life melts away and things because clear and much simpler in your mind (mainly caused by all the lovely endorphins the brain produces during exercise).

When it comes to ultras my learning curve is still steep so here’s a few things I learnt from Saturday for anyone else on an ultra-mission this summer:

• Finding the perfect pack: I feel like I have finally found this with the Salomon pack. It’s easy to wear and never rubs. I have experimented with waistbands but will now be loyal to my Salomon.

• Getting kit just right: It’s so important that anything that touches your skin is comfortable and is not going to irritate. My Hilly TwinSkin socks prevent blisters brilliantly.  I changed my Gore Headband at the 60km mark which made me feel much fresher and less sweaty. The small things really do help.  

• Get chatting: If you fall into stride with anyone for any amount of time getting chatting as it always lifts your mood and makes the miles whizz by.

• Nailing the nutrition: Traditionally I have always seemed to stick with sweet things and ended up eating way too much chocolate which provides energy but gets a bit sickly after 6+ hours. On Saturday I changed this approach completely and only ate salty carb-based foods, including peanut butter sandwiches, salt and vinegar crisps and salted peanuts along with squash, flat coke and loads of water.  I felt much better fuelled than usual and the salt also encouraged me to keep hydrated and it made me feel thirsty.

Sadly, there is one thing I still need to learn for ultras, and that he how to avoid falling over! I seem to always take a tumble at some point. It’s normally well into the second half of the race when I lose concentration and might be getting a bit tired.

But just to mix it up, on Saturday I fell over the tiniest of tree roots while flying along at the 20km marker. It was very annoying as I hit my nose and both my knees which definitely made me slow down a bit.

The only positive to take from another tumble is it’s the perfect excuse to run another ultra! My focus is now on the Action Challenge Thames Path Challenge on 7th September. I won it in 10 hours 17 minutes in 2017 and would love to go faster this year…. and not fall over during it!

Happy summer running everyone.

blog 14: go go gadget

The other day I accidently left my Garmin at the Running School after one of my weekly training sessions.

Why had I even taken your Garmin off I hear you ask? No one does that!

As part of my training, I do shoulder mobility exercises which involve moving my arms up and down a wall and I find my Garmin catches which annoys me. Having tossed it on to the floor I forgot to put it back on, having to go without it until my next session the following week.

The reason I bring this up is that I was surprised by my reaction.  I felt oddly lost without my Garmin. I could no longer check my resting heart rate on waking (normally a steady 46-47, only rising if I’m stressed, tired or ill). Nor could register my heart rate after a steady run along the river. For reasons I can’t really explain I suddenly missed knowing how many steps I’d taken in a day.

This is all particularly odd given I had not wanted to wear a Garmin in the first place. When Mike Antoniades and I embarked on World Marathon Challenge together, with the ambition of getting me to run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents, I said I didn’t go gadgets and watches. I liked the freedom of leaving my phone at home and just going off to run. I liked the numbers on the screen of a treadmill but had never monitored miles, calories or my heart rate.

This didn’t wash with Mike. He said it was essential for him to know how I responded to certain training sessions and the programme as a whole. Without monitoring my heart rate before, during and after exercise we wouldn’t know if I was getting fitter which was absolutely fundamental to getting ready for the challenge ahead.

And so, I listened to Mike and ordered a Garmin.  At first, I didn’t like it much as it felt chunky and not at all part of me. However, the curiosity of the data it could provide was instantly appealing.

Once I started doing tough interval sessions the Garmin became an invaluable tool.

It was fascinating to see how my heart rate responded to a session involving 20 x 90 second sprints with 90 seconds rest in between. During week 14 of training at the start of December I did a really tough 20 x 90 second session and jotted this down in my notes:

“Heart rate stayed low today (max. at 150, compared to 160+) even though the speed was slightly higher in the second half than two weeks ago.”

When I passed this information on to Mike he smiled and said “excellent, that’s what I have been waiting for.” Apparently, it was the signal I was getting fit. The session had felt just as hard and sweaty as it normally did so without the empirical data provided by my Garmin, I would have had no idea at all that the training was making a real difference.

This was the moment that I completely gave in to gadgets.  I will never be someone that needs the latest watch or to track absolutely every run I do. However, gadgets will always have a place in my training – and perhaps they should do in yours as well, but that’s a personal decision I’ll leave to you.

BLOG 13: THE MARATHON V THE ULTRA

Running is running right? Wrong.

How far you choose to run and over what terrain defines what type of ‘runner’ you are.

This is crystallised in the debate: The Marathon v The Ultra.

I’ve been thinking about this as I consider what races I want to take on after World Marathon Challenge. I’ve already ticked off a few more marathons, including Manchester and London, but felt it was time for something a bit different, so the ultra is returning to my life.

I’m sure you know this, but for clarity an ultra is anything above 26.2 miles. It can be a distance you take on in one go, such as the oldest of all ultras the 153-mile Spartathlon in Greece, or a multi-day stage race where you rest in between sections, like the famous Marathon Des Sables.

I took on my first ultra – a mere 40-mile race – in 2011. My only reason for doing so was I thought I couldn’t improve on my 3:33 marathon time so I would try and go a bit further instead. By going further, I felt less intimidated by the marathon distance and my marathon times started to fall as I could race the marathon, rather than simply survive it.

I find marathons and ultras have a very different atmosphere and are very different to run. With a marathon you tend to know what to expect. There is a very clear beginning, middle and end to the race. If it’s a road marathon a lot of fellow runners will be chasing a specific time. If it’s off road, you know that, however tough the terrain, you’ve covered the distance before so it will hopefully be ok.

When I stand on the start line of an ultra I feel much less certain about how things are going to pan out. For once, finishing time is a secondary factor, and it really is just about getting to the finish line in one piece.  I never know if I have the right kit on as conditions can vary so much during the much longer race and over such varied terrain. Eating and fuelling your body is a much bigger issue given you can probably get away with not eating much for a marathon, but you definitely can’t for an ultra when you’re going to be out running for anywhere from 6 hours to several days.

Pro ultra-runners also seem different to me. There is a calmness on the start that doesn’t exist for a marathon. Everyone knows they are going to be running for a long time and so nothing seems too hurried. The best ultra-runners are so efficient in how they move, never using more energy than they need to get from A to B.

I took on Race to the Tower yesterday (#RTTT2019) and it was an intriguing experience. This is a double marathon (52.4 miles) along the Cotswold Way finishing at the beautiful Broadway Tower.  It was even hillier than I was expecting, and wet conditions the day before made it really hard work as the paths in the wood were slippy and the mud in the open areas acted like suckers on your feet, slowing you down on every stride. I came home as the 4th woman, 16th overall, in a time of 9:35 – about an hour longer than I thought it was going to take me.

The toughest part of the race was setting out on the second half as it came as a complete surprise to my mind and body to go above 26.2 miles. Since last September I have done 24 marathons, including the 7 in a week which made up World Marathon Challenge, but I have not taken a step beyond that distance.  When I got to halfway in Race to the Tower my brain thought it was job done. The second half gave it a big surprise!

So, it seems the ultra mindset is most definitely different to a marathon mindset.  

I have already done 100km, 100 mile and 24-hour races so I know I have an ultra mindset when needed, but it needs to be rediscovered.  I hope I can do this while not losing my Marathon mindset, as my heart will always be with the marathon. 

I shall start out on my ultramarathon journey by remembering the well-known saying: If you start to feel good in an ultra you will get over it.

blog 12: what to look for in a race

I’ve had a bit of a break from competing in races since World Marathon Challenge in February, followed by Manchester and London marathons in April, but I can feel it’s time to get competitive again!

As I plan for the coming months this got me thinking about what I look for in a race and I thought I’d share, should it be of use to readers of this blog.

Over the years I have run a lot of races. This includes 56 marathons and ultras and more half marathons than I have ever bothered to count. Interestingly the half marathon is the most popular distance for runners, the perfect test of endurance while also enabling most runners to still be able to walk the next day!

When I am looking for races (often using www.findarace.com and www.runnersworld.com/uk  as I referenced in Blog 10) I get a real gut instinct on about which ones I will enjoy.

I gave some thought as to why this was and here are the six factors which I consider important when signing up to a race:

1. Distance from home:  This has to be practical. I am more than happy to travel along way for a big marathon or special ultra but sometimes it’s good to not be too far from home and have to get up super early or give up the whole day for a race.

2. Distance of the race: This is of course vital and will be dependent on your level of fitness and the goals you’re working towards. It’s important to be sensible but also not to limit your boundaries as we all improve by testing ourselves.

3. Racing surface: Everyone will have a preference as to whether they enjoy tarmac, off-road trails or even the more extreme muddy routes. The key is to know what you’re signing up for, so you get your footwear and kit right.

4. Profile of the race: If a race says it’s ‘undulating’ you can bet there will be some good hills. This is good for fitness but probably not for PBs. I love a fast and flat run where I can get into a strong rhythm, but hills will get you fit.

5. Size of race and atmosphere: Races vary greatly from low key 10kms or half marathons for a couple of hundred people through to the London marathon which hosts over 40,000 people on the streets of the capital. The buzz of bigger races no doubt helps bring out the fast times in all of us, but they are also more stressful in terms of final preparations (long loo queues!) and potentially crowded first miles. Sometimes there’s nothing more fun than turning up somewhere you’ve never been, enjoying a low-key friendly welcome and just running which is really what it’s all about.

6. Price: I think the majority of races are good value, but they do vary.  Typically, a half marathon is anywhere between £20 and £40 although I have just paid £48 to run Ealing Half in September as it’s said to be one of the best.  Meanwhile, there’s an emerging debate about whether we all want t-shirts and medals or simply to just pay less for races. Personally, unless I am running a marathon, I would go for paying less as I simply don’t need another bright logo-covered t-shirt or bizarrely shaped medal but that’s just me!

I’ve got a great mix of races coming up, including the inaugural Bridgnorth marathon on Bank Holiday Monday, Race to the Tower (a double marathon) on 8th June, Thames Path Challenge (100km) on 7th September, and then a busy October with Chester marathon on 6th and Chicago marathon on 13th October.

Wherever you choose to race I hope you have an amazing time!

BLOG 11: FOOD GLORIOUS FUEL!

Although we spend more and more time talking about food, we seem to be developing a less and less healthy relationship with it.

But as with most things in life I think running can help!

Let’s go back to basics: why do we consume food? We consume food to provide our body with the energy it needs to operate. We should eat a wide range of foods made up of carbohydrates (including sugars), protein, fat, fibre and plenty of fruit and vegetables. The quantity of food consumed (measured in calories) should balance against energy expenditure which will be dependent on how intensely we our bodies to move and how much we ask our brain to think (our brains use up a lot of energy).

So far so simple.  But where does this go wrong? Why do so many people find this so difficult to make this equation work in modern life?

There are many theories, but I think it’s because we have forgotten the basic reason why we eat.  Food needs to be enjoyable, but it also needs to be treated as fuel. We wouldn’t put the wrong fuel in our cars so why do we put the wrong type of fuel, in the wrong quantities, in our amazing bodies?

This is where running and exercise can help.  Once you start asking your body to work hard, you really start to realise just how amazing it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re running, swimming, cycling, dancing, skipping, trampolining, or any other of the other ways you can move your body, you start to really appreciate what it can do.   It’s this appreciation which makes me want to look after it a bit better and I can’t believe I am the only one who thinks like this.

In saying this, I absolutely do not claim to get my nutrition right all the time! 

I’m lazy and tend to for quick options, always preferring a veggie wrap over having to turn on the oven.  I consistently eat more sugar than I should and probably not enough protein. I eat too late at night given I am rarely home before 8.30pm. I’m always trying to drink more water.

However, I do treat food as fuel and I try and give my body what it needs to perform.  I hope this means I have a healthy relationship with food which is all we should be aiming for. Food is fuel after all.

Finally, in case it’s helpful, he’s a just few things I have learnt over the last decade of marathon running – based mainly on getting it wrong a few times:

· Before exercise it’s essential to eat some slow-burning carbohydrates so your body has the baseline fuel it needs for several hours, as opposed to consuming anything too sugary which gives you a spike of energy and then leave you flat.  After ten years of running I should know better but one of my first long training runs for World Marathon Challenge last year was done on a bowl of Coco Pops and the last hour was miserable. I now always have a couple of slices of thick brown toast with peanut butter and marmite.  

· If you’re exercising for less than an hour you do not need to consume any extra calories.  As long as you’ve eaten some slow burning carbohydrates beforehand your body will have the energy it needs, there no need to slurp energy drink or gels (see next point).

· It’s essential to find foods you can consume while exercising which you will enjoy eating so you can keep fuelled. For example, I cannot abide energy gels as they make me feel sick, so I use Lucozade Glucose tablets, jelly babies or bananas. Find what works for you and stick to it.

· “Carb-loading” before a marathon or other endurance event is a bit of a myth. Like “eating for two” when pregnant (which means in practice an extra 350 calories in the third trimester) this is a concept that seems to have got out of control. You certainly need carbohydrates in the days running up to your event but think of it in terms of eating around 20% more, which simply means a slightly bigger helping of pasta or one more piece of toast for breakfast.  Too much “carb-loading” will just make you feel heavy and increase your chance of experiencing a dodgy tummy during exercise.

· Post-event eating is great fun – just enjoy it!  I really enjoy letting myself have whatever I want after a marathon. Rather boringly it’s nearly always just a big Margaretta pizza.

Food is fuel. It really is that simple.

blog 10: hooray for London! but what next?

This year was another amazing London Marathon. Somehow London always delivers!

This was my 11th London Marathon and 11th marathon of the year, and after a PB in Manchester marathon three weeks ago I genuinely intended to just relax and enjoy the run. 

I ran off the yellow start which is for ‘Fast Good for Age’.  I was only about four runners back from the start line which meant no hold ups and saw me go through the first mile in 6:02. This was two seconds quicker than Manchester which surprised me somewhat.

I ticked along on my PB pace until just passed half way but somehow knew I just wasn’t up for the physical or, just as crucially, the mental battle which is needed if you’re going to run your best time over 26.2 miles.  The legs felt strong and I was always on for under three-hours (finishing in 2:58:56 in the end) but it still didn’t make the last few miles any easier.  I think you start to really understand marathon running when you realise that it will simply never be easy.

For so many runners the London marathon is the pinnacle of the year, or indeed their running experience.  I really hope everyone who ran on Sunday is still on the most wonderful endorphin high having completed the best marathon in the world. 

The tricky subject now is to think: what next?

BLOG 9: AMAZING LONDON!

Like nearly 40,000 other runners I will be taking to the streets of London on Sunday 28th April 2019 for the Virgin Money London Marathon.

London made me a marathon runner. When I signed up for my first London marathon back in 2009 my only aim was to complete it (once) and that would be it, marathon running done.  On the eve of my 11th consecutive London marathon it’s safe to say London got me addicted to running.

Any marathon is about being part of something much bigger than yourself. Nowhere is this more the case than London. I love everything about the London marathon. Every other runner feels like a friend. Every volunteer is a hero. Every person cheering helps runners achieve more than we ever know we are capable of.

I am so happy for anyone setting out on their first London marathon on Sunday as they’re about to have the most amazing experience. My only advice to anyone running would be to just try and enjoy every moment of it, especially the bit when a kind volunteer puts a medal over your head after you’ve crossed the finish line. There are few better feelings than the sense of complete happy exhaustion that a marathon induces.

This year I am especially excited as the organisers have kindly asked me to be part of the Expo which every runner attends at the Excel Centre in order to collect their number and timing chip. 

I will be on the Inspire and Inform Stage which London Marathon runs in partnership with Runner’s World on Friday 26th April at 1:30pm to talk about World Marathon Challenge.  I’ll be getting there early to listen to Mimi Anderson (@MarvellousMimi and www.marvellousmimi.com/) at 12.35pm as she is a complete legend (there’s not enough room in this blog to go into why but look her up!) The full line up of amazing speakers is here: https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/event-info/virgin-money-london-marathon-expo/inspire-inform-stage/.

I will be running this year’s race in my SportsAid vest, just as I did in Antarctica and Miami when winning World Marathon Challenge.

Last week SportsAid announced their plans for SportsAid Week 2019 and I am absolutely delighted to be joining the team as an ambassador.  SportsAid Week is taking place between Monday 23rd September and Sunday 29th September and I will be getting involved with the #MyMiles Challenge and everyone is welcome to get involved. You can read more about how to get involved in SportsAid Week 2019 here: http://bit.ly/1Vcs0P0.

Another bonus for this year’s London Marathon is going to be meeting Becca Pizzi (@Becpizzi and www.beccapizzi.com/). She is the previous World Marathon Challenge World Record holder and a total inspiration to me. I hope she will have a great time running her first London Marathon and I just can’t wait to compare notes with her.

London really is just an amazing marathon!

BLOG 8: THE PAIN BARRIER: MENTAL OR PHYSICAL?

“Whether you are running a 2:30 marathon or a 5:30 marathon, it’s going to hurt, and it’s about what you do at that moment that it starts to hurt. Do you say, ‘it hurts, I’m not enjoying this’ or, as I do, grit your teeth and say, ‘come on, this is what I trained for’. 

When I took up marathon running, I heard and read about ‘the pain barrier’. Often referred to as ‘the wall’, I thought it was this thing I would meet at some point, a feature of marathon running in the same way the White Cliffs of Dover are a feature of Britain’s south coast.

Ten years and over 50 marathons and ultras later, I’m still not absolutely sure if I have actually met the pain barrier/wall. I do know that every marathon has hurt, without exception. I also know that for me running marathons seems to fall in to 3 phases. I have no idea if other runners experience a similar pattern to their 26.2 miles races, but this is what happens to me:

Phase 1: This is normally between the start and miles 7 or 8. I get going and my brain is racing, probably faster than my legs. Life seems to whizz through my brain from things I need to remember to do, TV programmes I’ve watched, books I’ve read or conversations I’ve had.  With all of this going on there’s limited time to think about how fast I am actually running but hopefully these are my quickest miles so I’m in a good rhythm for the middle part of the race.

Phase 2: At some point, normally about the 8-9mile/1 hour mark my brain seems to switch off. The endorphins take over, the fast thinking slows down, and I just enjoy running. At this stage if things are going well, I am in a strong rhythm and every part of the body is swinging along smoothly.  My hope is that this phase can last forever…. which is sadly always just a dream.

Phase 3: Anywhere between 16 to 21 miles there comes a moment when I realise over the course of maybe 100 paces that it hurts. Every stride hurts.  The glutes ache a little, the hamstring tighten, and I realise I will be working hard all the way home in order to try and maintain stride length and pace. On the best days this moment doesn’t arrive until after the 19 or 20-mile mark, but on the tougher days it’s there at 16 which makes it a long 10 miles home. Whenever it arrives, it’s time to dig in.

Perhaps this moment that I have just described in phase 3 is the pain barrier, or at least it’s my pain barrier. It’s the nearest I’ve come to understanding it.

Crucially, if this is the - or my - pain barrier, then it’s nothing to be intimated about because it can be overcome, as every person who completes a marathon physically demonstrates as they cross the finish line.

What we have come to understand so well in recent years is that the key to overcoming the pain barrier is mental.  It’s our brains which keep our bodies going.

My quote at the start of this blog is taken from an interview with World Marathon Majors which you can read here: https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/news-media/latest-news/seven-the-magic-number-for-susannah/

BLOG 7: MAGIC MANCHesTER!

When I took on World Marathon Challenge, I knew I would need something to get me back running once I had (hopefully) completed it. Every runner needs their next race.

Manchester Marathon got rave reviews with a flat course, a great atmosphere and the likelihood of decent weather in early April. This was good enough for me to sign up and I am so glad I did!

It’s been tougher than I thought it would be focusing on training since World Marathon Challenge. Once the endorphins wore off, I had an odd few weeks where I wondered how I would ever match or exceed such an amazing experience (see previous blog about why World Marathon Challenge is so special). I would imagine it’s a little bit like being an Olympian who exceeds their expectations at the Games and then wonders what happens next?

I decided my ‘what next?’ would be to see if I could run a marathon a bit faster and so Manchester Marathon fitted the bill.

The organisers have big ambitions to make the race the most inclusive marathon possible and it shows. The #MarathonEve event the evening before in the city centre has huge potential and I was delighted to be a small part along with a number of special speakers.

Here’s why Manchester is magic:

1. The raceday organisation is superb with easy transport to Old Trafford and then efficient bag drop and collection.  Even the dreaded porter loo queue is not too stressful. 

2. The first mile is slightly downhill so you can get into a great rhythm from the get-go – I clocked 6:03 which is about as fast as I can run!

3. There are signs welcoming runners to each district of Manchester which means you feel like you really see the whole city and get a good sense of progress throughout the race.

4. The crowd support builds throughout the race, with lots of local people giving out jelly babies and other treats (which I helped myself to!).

5. Running is not all about the numbers, but Manchester is the perfect marathon for running a PB, whether you’re aiming for 5:30 or 2:30. 

So how did my race go?....

My race was nearly blown off course by fighting a cold in the preceding 36-hours but with a hot shower, paracetamol and a cheese sandwich (all I had available at 6.30am) along with tea, I was ready to race come 9am.

My race started well covering the first 9 miles in 59 minutes and the first half in 1:26. Then I held it together nicely through the second half for a new PB of 2:56:52 which put me in 19th position!  This exceeded my expectation but I’m still not happy with my miles between 21 and 25 as I slowed more than I should have…. but it’s always good to have something to work on.

As with every marathon, I had to tackle ‘the pain barrier’, and this will be the subject of my next blog once I’ve fully recovered from Magic Manchester!

BLOG 6: WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE?

"All ages and abilities have been united with World Marathon Challenge. It's the most extraordinary experience, it's unique and I loved it."

This is what I said to the BBC’s Frank Keogh (@HonestFrank), the first journalist I spoke to after finishing World Marathon Challenge. It was genuine and heart felt as I’d had no time to think or plan what I would say in a situation which I never dared imagine could happen.  

 I knew Frank through my day job working in communications in horseracing and betting and so when he messaged at 2am Miami time (7am in London) to ask if we could speak, I immediately replied, “I’m grand now – haven’t got another race to plan for!!!”. The endorphins were clearly flowing.

Frank and I must have spoken for about 15 minutes as I sat on a wall by the finish on South Beach cheering home fellow competitors.  It was a great chat as Frank is a true sports fan and really understands his topic. It was the first time I talked about what the World Marathon Challenge experience meant to me.

It was all a bit of a blur in the following days.  Now I’ve had time look back and reflect a bit, the thing that strikes me most is how I don’t see it as my experience but as a shared experience. While I happy to talk about the World Record, I would much rather talk about how great it was a race and compete against the other top women, notably Kristina Schou Madsen and Stephanie Gicquel, who pushed me very hard, and all the other runners who crossed the line in Miami to achieve something we’d all dreamed about for months and years.

The best experiences in life are shared ones and World Marathon Challenge is the ultimate shared experience. When I signed up it was because I wanted to do it but the memories of it are built around the people I shared it with. Isn’t that what sport is all about? It’s certainly what makes World Marathon Challenge so special.

You can read my interview with Frank on Thursday 7th February 2019 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/47154857

blog 5: the importance of coaching and support

I am writing this having just completed a tough training session which included sprint intervals. As a marathon runner these are not my favourite sessions, but I know they do me a lot of good!

Why have I have just done this session? It was not because I especially wanted to. The truthful answer is……. because my coach told me to.

Left to my own devices I would probably have done a half hour treadmill run, some time on the cross trainer and a few light weights. As it is, I’ve done 40 minutes on the treadmill, with the second half at full marathon pace, followed by 10 x 1-minute sprints at 16/17km an hour which is lung burning stuff, but at least better than having to do 20 of them! Later today I’ll go outside and do a fast 5km to test my speed.

I only started having coaching with the Running School because I got injured.  It was clear without professional help my running days were going to be severely limited. Proper coaching improved my technique and completely changed by outlook.  Mike Antoniades, Founder of the Running School, played a very large part in my World Marathon Challenge World Record which I will write about on another occasion.

Coaching sounds rather professional and perhaps a bit scary but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not about having someone with you 24/7 or planning every session for you. It’s more about having someone there to guide your training so you can continue to progress, and crucially to be there to chat things through so you can figure out what works best for you. This person might be a Personal Trainer at your local gym, a contact at a running club or someone you find on the internet (as I did the Running School).

Whatever your level, from fun runner to Olympian, we all benefit from a bit of coaching and support….and crucially it will make you do those tough sessions!

Blog 4: a big thank you

I ran World Marathon Challenge because I wanted to take on a truly amazing experience.

But at the same time, it was a great opportunity to raise money for SportsAid.

SportsAid is wonderful charity which supports over 1,000 young athletes every year at the start of their careers - when it matters most - so they have the chance to fulfil their potential, whatever their background.  At the Rio Olympics and Paralympics SportsAid alumni won 150 medals for Team GB! 

I am so grateful to everyone who has donated and helped raise over £19,000 for SportsAid.

I was lucky enough to join some of the SportsAid team at the Cooper Box Stadium earlier this month and recoded this message which says it much better than I can…… #Thankyou  #BeAmazing

If anyone stills wants to donate any funds will help make a difference:

Blog 3: Welcome to We Can All Be Amazing

Welcome to the We Can All Be Amazing Blog!

I hope this will be a place of inspiration.

When I set out on World Marathon Challenge in January 2019 I had no idea what a life changing adventure it would be.

I had always dreamed of running 7 marathons in 7 days on continents, but I had never contemplated winning and setting a new World Record with an average marathon time of 3 hours, 28 minutes and 9 seconds.

This has opened up a whole new world to me. I want to use it positively to share my experiences and show everyone that we are all capable of achieving amazing things. We just don’t know how amazing until we give it a go!

I will use this blog to share ideas, tips and things that I have learnt through my experiences.  I hope will be useful to you and other readers. I also look forward to welcoming guest bloggers to share their inspirational stories.

I love to talk about running and hear from others about their experiences so please drop me a line if there is anything you want to ask or share with me. My contact details are in the ‘Contact Susannah’ tab on this website.

Thank you for visiting www.wecanbeamazing.com and I hope this website will be place of inspiration…because we can all be amazing!

BLOG 2: 7 races, 7 continents, 7 days….and one World Record!

As New Year resolutions go, a commitment to conquer an incredible feat that only a few hundred others can claim puts a new gym membership and a few alcohol-free weeks firmly into perspective. Emerging from seven marathons across seven continents in as many days, and as overall women’s winner and new world record holder, no less, racing’s Susannah Gill has pushed herself to the absolute limit and her beneficiary charity SportsAid to the fore.

As I said in part one of this blog – that seems a long time ago – I knew that taking on the World Marathon Challenge was going to be a unique experience, but it’s turned out to be more special than I could have ever dreamed.

I write these words from Miami, which is our last stop before heading home as the fastest woman to have ever run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents. I am proud to be able to say that I beat the previous World Record of an average time of 3 hours 55 mins with these marathon performances: 

• Antarctica: 3 hours 53 minutes

• Cape Town: 3 hours 21 minutes

• Perth: 3 hours 19 minutes

• Dubai: 3 hours 26 minutes

• Madrid: 3 hours 11 minutes

• Santiago: 3 hours 37 minutes

• Miami: 3 hours 26 minutes

Camaraderie across the globe kept us going

Along the way I met some truly amazing people from dozens of countries; of all ages and with all sorts of reasons for wanting to take on this challenge. We had some tough times, but everyone succeeded, which is the most important thing – we all go home as successful World Marathon Challengers.

I could write about my experiences for hours but if I was to pick out a couple of highlights they would have to be the moment we all landed wide-eyed in Antarctica with the first race ahead of us. This feeling was only matched – and for different reasons – by the wonderful pizza the race organisers got us in Santiago in Chile, which we all enjoyed at 5am in the main park in the centre of the city after another 26.2 miles of running.

Beating fundraising target as important as race times

My motivation to support the charity SportsAid and future generations through the power of sport drove me on to perform the best I could, in a sport I love. Enjoying any sport brings benefits to us all and if my challenge might help encourage young people to follow their own and be inspired then this just adds to my incredible experience.

The support I have received from family, friends colleagues and across social media has been immense, along with the very generous donations so many have made to my Just Giving page. I’m about 40% ahead of my initial target, which is down to so many people across racing and elsewhere. I can’t thank everyone enough – it really did help keep me focused, especially on the seventh marathon in Miami when I was running on fumes but knew I could not stop!

A final thank you to everyone who helped me to make it to the start line and to all the other runners who shared my wanderlust and put one foot in front of another during our unforgettable global whirlwind.

BLOG 1: “The first four marathons should be okay, it’s the next three that are the mental challenge!”

So says racing’s Susannah Gill a week before supporting SportsAid by taking on the World Marathon 777 Challenge.

Susannah is Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs for Together for the Tote, also known as the Alizeti Consortium and is a committed marathoner more than able to live up to her twitter handle of ‘The Iron Lady Runs’. Come January 31st on a start line in Antartica, Susannah enters a new world as the first of seven marathons in seven days on seven continents gets underway!

183 miles on foot and 55,000 in the air

It all kicks off in Antarctica and from there, I will move through numerous time zones as I visit Cape Town; Perth; Dubai; Madrid and Santiago, before finishing in Miami on 6th February.

This is a challenge which fewer than 200 people have ever completed with Sir Ranulph Fiennes being the first in 2003. While I’ve run plenty of marathons, I have never done anything like this. The challenge will see me running 295km (183 miles) and travelling over 55,000 miles in 168 hours.

From what I have learnt it appears the training can get you through the first four races but marathons five to seven are very much a mental challenge…..so here goes!

Secret training and toffee crisps