Fat Girl to Ironman

8 January 2023

My first week of training in 2023

My 16-week countdown to the London Marathon starts here. I’m still struggling with my breathing after getting ill 7 weeks ago, but I’ve decided to plough on. If I don’t recover quickly enough then I’ll defer my place. New Year’s Day parkrun After our parkrun at Bartley Park, we knew that M would not be willing to do another run...

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31 December 2022

My 50th parkrun in a year

My final parkrun of 2022 was at Bartley Park. I was ‘running’ with M, so I knew I wouldn’t get a PB. I had really hoped I would get back under 30 minutes at parkrun this year, but it was not to be. My fastest time this year was 30:13 (at Southampton on 12/11/22). Catching up with friends It was...

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27 December 2022

A trio of festive parkruns

I spent Christmas with my family, so I had the opportunity to do a parkrun on the drive down to Cornwall. I also managed to squeeze in two festive parkruns whilst in Cornwall. Weymouth parkrun We left Southampton early on 17th December, so that we could drive to Weymouth for 9am. I’d hoped to do Weymouth parkrun in summer so...

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14 December 2022

Christmas gift idea: 50 women in sport

At this time of year, it can be hard to motivate yourself. I don’t want to tie my laces and leave the house for a run. I love reading motivational books to encourage me to keep going. One book which I’ve read recently that I would recommend adding to your Christmas wish list is 50 Women in Sport by Jean...

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11 December 2022

Getting back to training

It has been immensely frustrating being unwell. I’ve not run for nearly three weeks and am still not completely well but am determined to get back to training. Run Directing at parkrun On Saturday 3rd December, I was Run Director at Southampton parkrun. M agreed to volunteer with me as a barcode scanner. It’s one of her favourite volunteer roles...

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27 November 2022

Staying Alive

This week has been a write-off when it comes to marathon training. I was very busy at work interviewing candidates for four posts and then I ended up becoming ill. I managed a training session on Monday and have spent the rest of the week focusing on staying alive. Monday night training I made it out to LRR’s Monday night...

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20 November 2022

Training Log 14th-20th November 2022

When planning my running schedule for this week (14th-20th November), I had hoped to take part in a CC6 (local cross-country race) at Itchen Valley Country Park. However, it was also Remembrance Day and M was asked to take part in a parade with her Beavers colony. I figured that I should be able to fit in more runs during...

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13 November 2022

Training log

The last couple of weeks have been good, even though I’ve not run as much as I wanted to. I’ve fitted in a variety of runs including my fastest 5km since February 2020. On Tuesday 8th, I did a 12-minute online workout. It’s one that Stuart used to do when he was training for his ironman. At points, Stu was...

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1 November 2022

Halloween week training log

I’m determined to train consistently so that I can enjoy London Marathon and achieve a time that I’m proud of. I hope to be running 10 miles by the start of 2023. I didn’t train as much as I would have liked to this week as it was M’s birthday (and half term). It was a very busy week. However,...

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31 October 2022

I’m in! I’ve got a place in TCS London Marathon 2023

It’s been a long time since I blogged consistently, so I’m hoping I’ll magically find enough time to change that over the next six months. Why? Because I’ve finally got a place in London Marathon! What’s going on in my life? I’ve got a lot going on in my life. I still work full-time, but I am back to working...

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