marathon - AnnaTheApple

February 19, 2016September 6, 2018

The Nitty Gritties–The Long Run

This is another post in my marathon training series…hope it’s useful!

One of the key parts of marathon training is the long run. It’s pretty much what differentiates marathon training from other more conventional races, like half marathons and 10ks (I say more conventional races as there are some crazy races like ultras and obstacle races as a whole different ball game when it comes to training of which I have next to no experience with).

**Again, I will stress that all the below is my own opinion. I have no qualifications in this area, just my own experience and what works well for me.**

The Distance

With half marathons you don’t really need to go above 12 miles during training, some plans don’t even go above 10. If you’re quite experienced you might go over the distance, say 14 miles, but higher than that isn’t really necessary. But for marathons you’re looking at 16 miles becoming a medium run and potentially 24 miles as your longest. Personally I’m happy if I can hit 18 miles three times. I might venture up to 20 or above if I’ve got a race I can use but I wouldn’t ordinarily just go out on my own for 20 miles.

It’s really your personal preference. If your new to marathons and you’re scared you won’t make it, then doing a 20 miler might help squash some doubts and give you confidence. If, like me, you’re a bit injury-prone, then doing many 18 miles and above long runs might be tempting fate a bit too much. I would always recommend doing your last and longest run three weeks before your marathon – just before you taper. That way you give your body three weeks to recover from that run and become nice and fresh for the race.

In those three weeks you’re not dropping the ball though and doing nothing. Your mileage should decrease but the intensity should remain fairly similar. For example, if you always do an interval session on a Tuesday night, just because you’re tapering doesn’t mean you can’t still do it. During tapering your runs shouldn’t all be easy plods of minimal distance. For me I find doing a long run of 14-16 miles two weeks out and then 10-12 the week before the race works nicely. It keeps my body ticking over but not exhausting it. My other runs during the week stay the same.

Obviously when you begin marathon training you don’t suddenly bash out an 18 miler though, it’ll take a fair few weeks. And you may find you run 14 miles and wonder how the hell you could possibly run further. But you will, you’re body adapts as you increase the mileage slowly. Next week you might do 15 and it feels similar, but you’ve just run one more mile than last week.

Planning

I still get nervous the night before a long run. It’s silly because it’s just running. But there is something quite nerve racking about running a long way, especially if you’re venturing into a distance you’ve never run before. A way to help reduce those nerves is to plan well. Get your route sorted, organise what clothes you’re going to wear (what’s the weather going to be like?), make sure you’ve had enough to eat and enough sleep the night before, sort your fuel out (are you taking gels? Are you having breakfast?) and hydrate well the day before. To calm myself I tend to run the route in my head. For some reason it helps chill me out.

The Route

I will always plan my route for a long run. I hate going out and not knowing where I’m going or only having a vague sense of the mileage. I like to set off on a predefined route and shut my mind off from it, let my legs do the running and just relax into it.

I tend to use RunKeeper to plan out a route. There are lots of other sites and apps you can use (MapMyRun for example) but I like RunKeeper.

I click ‘Create your own’ and just plan it out from there.

You can follow the roads easily by clicking on them and it’ll tot up the distance for you as you go. The advantage of MapMyRun is that you can have a look at the elevation whereas RunKeeper doesn’t. But for most of my long runs I run them around the same area so I’m familiar with the hills.

Company

I’m very lucky in that I love running on my own. I have no issues with running all my long runs solo. The advantage for that is at the end of the day I will be running my own marathon. I won’t have someone to chat to or help battle through the miles with on the big day. I’ll be running with other people in the race but that’s different. I also have full control over the pace I want to run, where I want to go and what time I leave.

I do of course enjoy running with other people but for most of my long runs I like to be in control. If I stop it’s because I need to stop, not because someone else does. It’s highly selfish I know but at the end of the day I run marathons for me and no one else and being so injury-prone (and a self-confessed paranoid runner) it helps me relax a lot more to know it’s only me I’m letting down if for some reason I can’t carry on the run or that the pace isn’t right.

That said, so many people in my club run on a Sunday together for their long runs and love it. And the long runs I’ve been on with other people have been a lot of fun with good banter and the miles fly by. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with running with others if you find it helps you. But for me personally when I have a marathon I really want to do I know I need to be sensible and keep my head in my own game. I also need to ride that pain train on my own, because on marathon day I’ll be on my own and I need to know I can cope.

This is different though when I decide to run a race as part of a long run. Not necessarily to race it but to help break the monotony of solo long runs and to also have a nice catered long run (aid stations and cheering are always welcome!). And you get a medal… Last year I ran 12 miles and then finished it with a local 10k race, I also ran 5 miles to a half marathon. It does require a fair bit of time management to get it right though!

The Pace

It’s advised that the pace you should run your long runs should be a minute to a minute and a half slower than your goal marathon pace. This is to avoid knackering your body out, especially if that pace is quite a tricky pace to maintain. As you continue training that pace will become easier, but initially you need to slow it down. It’s about time on your feet, not how quickly you can do it.

I struggle a little with this (and when I say a little I mean I kind of don’t follow it at all). I think this is mainly because my marathon pace is generally a pace I can readily achieve in normal life anyway. When I’m running regularly my marathon pace tends to be an easy pace for me (it’s anywhere from 7.45min/miles to 8.30min/miles depending on what shape I’m in). On long runs I don’t look at my watch that often and just run how I feel. Perhaps I should force myself to slow down but so far it’s worked fine. For getting my PB last year at Liverpool I ran most of my long runs around 8 min/miles and then ran the marathon around 7.45min/miles. The marathon itself was comfortable for 80%, where the last 20% was tough but doable.

I would hate to run all my long runs at 9min/miles and then suddenly expect my body to hit 8min/miles on the day. But that’s just ME. I don’t run a huge amount of miles during the week (30ish) and I don’t do a whole lot of speed work. It just works for me. You need to work out what works for you. If you find you’re absolutely broken and exhausted for the following week after a long run then perhaps you do need to slow it down. But if you feel comfortable fatigued (that lovely post-long run haziness that doesn’t hugely impact your day-to-day) then you’re fine.

The Nutrition

Like I said in a previous post, it’s not rocket science but you do need to think about it. I became a little reckless and carefree last year the night before a trail marathon and had an Indian curry that I’ve never had before. I’ve had Indian food before long runs quite a lot but this was a spicy curry I wasn’t familiar with and I thought I would be absolutely fine. “Stomach of steel” I laughed as I chowed down my second portion.

During the marathon I had to stop twice for an upset tummy. It wasn’t pleasant and I learnt my lesson in a big way. Always respect the marathon. Marathon training is hard work and you do have to sacrifice things (going out for dinner or a late night at pub before an 18 miler isn’t always a great idea). Don’t suddenly try something different the night before a long run. Obviously you do need to test different things out but don’t be silly about it. If you know pizza works nicely, eat pizza. I generally have an Indian takeaway most Saturday nights before a long run. I adore Indian food and I love getting a takeaway as I cook all week. It’s a nice treat I budget in for and fits my lifestyle (sad, lonely woman – joke!). But I know exactly what to have from my Indian – mainly chicken, no thick sauces, poppadums and salad. Nothing crazy but I love it and I run well on it.

And you need to work out if you need to take fuel with you on the run – whether that’s gels, sweets or ‘real’ food like dried fruit or cereal bars (questionably ‘real’ food). I don’t take anything with me but I generally have three gels during a marathon (that way I get the maximum boost on race day as my body has trained without them). I already know what gels work with my system so I don’t need to test them out on a long run, but if you’re unsure you should always try before the big day. Some people’s stomachs can’t handle gels. And also you need to work out how you’re going to carry them: in a belt, in your hands, have someone pass them to you or depend on what the marathon has to offer. Most marathons will state if they’re providing fuel and what that fuel will be so you can train accordingly.

Lastly…

Don’t fret and panic. Long runs are a dress rehearsal not the main event. If you struggle and have problems during these runs than that’s ideal as you can solve them before the big day. Better to get your problems and worries done early so the actual marathon is just a celebration of the hard work you’ve put into it. And if you miss a long run because of illness, injury or holiday, you’re not going to fail. It’s not an exact science and as long as you’ve gotten in some solid mileage during the entire process you’ll be fine to miss a few runs here or there. No training cycle is perfect.

How do you prepare for your long runs?

Do you pre-plan your route?

What meal do you have the night before a long run?

February 12, 2016

The Nitty Gritties–Food

As I’m plodding my way through my training for my sixth marathon I thought I’d do a mini series on some bits and bobs (“the nitty gritty”) to do with my training that might either be interesting (who knows!) or helpful to other people. Obviously I’m no expert and this is only my experience, which isn’t huge, and everyone is an individual. What works for me might not work for you, but you might find something that helps! I have a few other topics in mind but if people find this a) boring or b) have a request, please let me know

First topic surrounds one of my favourite things (other than running): FOOD. When it comes to food and marathon training I think it can get over-complicated and confused. To be quite honest, if you’re a regular runner or do regular exercise then really not a huge amount needs to change straight off the bat. You don’t suddenly need to be eating pizza every night and gulping down a protein shake to get through the day.

Ideally as you gradually increase the miles each week then you should also gradually increase your calories/fuel as well. This is especially true if you’re trying to lose weight (I’m not, don’t worry!). Just because you added an extra few miles onto your usual run at the weekend doesn’t mean it’s time for a second lunch. That being said, as the miles do get substantially bigger and you suddenly find the day after a long run you are rungry ALL THE TIME then sensible snacking can help immensely.

Protein

As you probably know I’m a huge fan of protein. Personally I think a snack that’s high in protein is fantastic because not only is it quite satiating but it’s also great to help towards muscle repair. Running takes a lot out of the body and protein can really help build back up the muscles.

Cottage cheese – this might sound a bit odd but cottage cheese is a fantastic, tasty snack. It’s high in protein and low in fat and sugar. It’s a good source of calcium and selenium (a good antioxidant). Have it plain or add in some berries and some seeds and suddenly you have quite a well-rounded snack with protein, carbs and fat. I take a little Tupperware box with me to work and eat it like a yogurt in the afternoon.
Nuts – pistachio nuts are a regular snack for me at work. I prefer them to other nuts as they’re a bit harder to eat as you have to de-shell them. This means I’m less likely to mindlessly power through a bag of them. Nuts are high in calories but they’re a fantastic source of protein and ‘healthy’ fats. If you have more self-control than I do, other nuts are also just as good.
Meat jerky/biltong – OK not exactly a ‘normal’ runner’s snack but I love these. Just make sure you get good quality that’s not full of sugar and strange chemicals. It’s super high in protein, while low in carbs and fats.
Icelandic-style yogurts – they taste just like normal yogurt though they’re a lot thicker. They’re low in fat and sugars but really high in protein (something like 11g per 100g) and contain all the good probiotic magic too. There are flavoured ones too but they’re usually full of sugar so I’d recommend just throwing in whole fruit instead.

Fat

Fat, like protein, is very satiating and shouldn’t be feared. It’s an important source of nutrition for our body, helping contribute to healthy hair, skin and nails and also hormonal function and reducing inflammation. Just avoid trans fats as they’re the nasties that can mess around with your system.

Hummus – pair with some vegetable crudités or some wholemeal crackers and you’re good to go. A great source of fat from the chickpeas and olive oil.
Avocados – the star of Instagram posts all over the world, mash onto a rice cracker (preferably a wholegrain one to bump up the fibre and satiety factor). It’s a great source of potassium (more than bananas!) and monounsaturated fat.
Nut butters – again, spread on rice crackers, toast or eat by the spoonful. Fairly calorific so a good choice if you’re in a rush and need to get in some nutrients fast. Personally I’m not a fan of nut butters. It’s alright but I don’t get the craze for it…
Cheese – avoid processed rubbish (though I’m always partial to Babybells as they’re in such handy little packages). Try and get some good quality cheese that will be more tasty, more nutrient rich and just generally better for you. Cube up some feta and throw in some cherry tomatoes or olives and that’s quite a nutritious and filling snack.

Carbs

Carbs are a necessary requirement for running. When training for a marathon, a low carb diet is probably not the best approach unless your body is really used to this way of exercising. Your body needs fuel and carbs are the easiest and simplest fuel for your body to use. You do want your body to tap into your fat reserves as well but within reason.

I’d avoid crisps purely because they’re not that filling and they’re likely to spike your sugar levels and leave you wanting more. Aim for low GI (more complex) carbs that will digest slowly and leave you feeling full and satisfied.

Fruit (banana is obviously a great choice here but obviously I’m going to say apples are the best).
Vegetables, such as carrots. I don’t need to convince you veg is good for you.
Pretzels – a nice salty snack that’s more filling than crisps and really moreish.
Popcorn – a great snack as long as you avoid the sugary ones. A great source of fibre as well which is key for a good working gut and digestive system.
Toast – a slice of wholemeal toast can be exactly what the body needs. Add some jam and have before a run and you’ve got a great source of fast and slow releasing energy. Or peanut butter for a more sustaining snack.

Little bits of what you fancy…

Life is too short to not enjoy food! Have that slice of cake or bar of chocolate, just don’t have it every day “because I’m training”. I will always have a naughty snack/cheat meal/whatever the hell you want to call it at the weekend because though my body might not need it, my mind and soul does.

My ethos is that I generally try and save a big treat until the weekend so I can fully enjoy it rather than some shop-bought cakes or biscuits someone from work has that I eat because I’m bored. I want to go out to a nice restaurant and eat a nice meal with people I enjoy being around. I make it into something that can be fully immersed into and enjoyed. Like afternoon tea or enjoying some home-baked cake from my friend.

If you’re feeling tired and worn out, generally it can be one of two things: you’re not getting enough quality sleep or you’re not eating enough. Your body needs fuel and recovery. Sleep and food are two very simple easy ways to make running easier (IN THEORY – busy mums all over the world don’t shoot me!). If you’re not looking to gain weight, eat as much as you possibly can to maintain your weight with your training. Don’t skimp on calories, dive into those bad boys. And if you start gaining weight? Drop it your calories down a bit. Better to gain a little weight in the process of good running than burn out because you’re not eating enough. I’m not saying to suddenly count your calories and become obsessed over it, but just be mindful of what you’re putting in to get the best out.

Just my personal thoughts!

What are your favourite snacks?

Do you lose weight or gain weight when training for a marathon?

Do you graze through the day or stick to bigger meals?

January 13, 2016

My road to Boston 2016

OK, I’m fully aware I’m risking things by dedicating a post to the subject of marathon training and my upcoming race… but here we go. Finger’s crossed I’m not jinxing anything.

I qualified for the Boston marathon last year at the Liverpool marathon and it was one of my favourite races of the year, if not ever (though it battles with the Cakeathon for that one…).

To qualify for Boston I needed a comfortable sub 3:35 to get in. Boston works on a tier entry system, so by qualifying either by over 20 minutes or 10 minutes, you have a good chance of getting in. Luckily my time was 3:24:06 which meant I could enter in the second tier of entries, guaranteeing me a place.

After doing some base-building through December, marathon training has fully begun now. Currently I’m about 14 weeks out from the race date. I won’t be doing week by week check-ins on my blog as I find these are really only interesting for the author (unless you want me to…?) and it’s really tempting fate to give me an injury. (I’m on Strava if you want to see all my runs though and I post a lot to Instagram).

My goals: Obviously a PB would be amazing. However, I’m not going to aim and train for one. I’d like to enjoy the atmosphere, soak in the sights and not risk injury. I’m going to Boston with my mum (my dad would come too but he can’t due to work) and we’re going to head to Cape Cod afterwards and not being injured would really help both of our enjoyments 😉 Plus it’s such an iconic race I’d like to remember it and not be watch-watching. The course is supposed to be quite challenging as well so letting off some pressure will help me enjoy it a bit more. Also, the worst thing (aside from injury) would be to finish the race feeling disappointed I hadn’t hit a certain time.

The plan: I’m loosely following the training plan I used for Liverpool as it seemed to work so well. But I won’t be sticking to it religiously as already I have different races and events coming up that means things are being tweaked. Ideally I’ll be running four times a week: a speed session (hills or intervals – probably going to be hills rather than intervals if I’m honest as that’s my preference), a medium run (6-8 miles), parkrun and a long run. I’m hoping to run 18 miles two or three times with possibly the Meon Plod 21 mile race (a hilly trail race, not to be raced!). My mileage will probably peak 35-40 miles but only briefly. Most of my weeks will be 25-30 miles. My body likes that best and I know I don’t need tons of mileage to run a marathon (at least to run the times I’m currently happy with).

Added extras: My love affair with the gym continues strong. I was able to maintain gym visits with Liverpool so I’m hoping to do the same. At the moment I’m gyming 4-5 times a week. It’s highly likely to drop to three sessions. Superfluous sessions which are purely for my own enjoyment and aesthetic purposes, like shoulders and arms, will be the first to go. I hope to maintain a legs, glutes and back day (with core work) as I find they’re very beneficial to running.Nutrition: All the cake all the time… 😉

And that’s it really. Obviously there is a fair amount of pressure to NOT GET INJURED as an expensive holiday (and expensive race) is on the cards here and my mum is coming with me. But if the worst comes to the worst and I do get injured and really cannot run the race, we’ll still go but just go to Cape Cod sooner rather than spend the time in Boston itself. I’m going to try and be sensible though and do most of my training (apart from interval sessions and parkruns) on my own as that way I can manage my own paces and stick to my plan. It worked for Liverpool so I’m hoping it will work again!

Are you aiming to run any specific races this year?

Where are you going on holiday?

Have you ever been to Boston before?

December 23, 2015

Christmas and the year ahead

Not long now! Hopefully you’re nice and organised with wrapped presents, cards sent, food bought… (if you are indeed celebrating Christmas, of course). I personally love, love, love Christmas. I’m not religious so I don’t observe Christmas as a religious celebration but I see it as a great time to spend with the family, eat copious amounts of food and just generally get into the good cheer of it all.

Christmas eve (after I’ve finished work, boo!) I’ll be at my parent’s house for the traditional takeaway (Indian for me, obviously ;-)) and then I’ll head home as I plan on doing parkrun in the morning and it’s closer to my flat.

Then, after smashing out a PB at parkrun (hahaha) I’ll be spending Christmas day with my parent’s and granddad at their house and we’ll be having turkey with all the trimmings. I’m beyond excited I can tell you. I’ll be helping my dad cook and then in the afternoon, after presents and food, we’ll all play some board games and probably watch a cheesy film. It’ll be a strange Christmas for me but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

I thought I’d have a little time of reflection on my year. Apart from one injury recently, my year of running went amazingly. I PB’ed at 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon, and I had my longest no-injury streak (<– that was the best part). I trained really well for my first marathon of the year, Liverpool. I was super strict, on the ball and listened to my body. I worked hard at the gym to strength train and I loved that marathon so much and got my Boston Qualifier.

Then I sort of forgot to be as sensible and got greedy. I did two more marathons too close together. That said, I loved the Cheddar Gorge marathon. It was awesome, freeing and just one big adventure as it was off-road and crazy hard terrain. On the other hand, Bournemouth marathon sucked royally but it taught me a lot.

This is a chart of my year that I made a week or so ago from Strava (miles on the y axis):

Next year I have the Boston marathon in April and Chester marathon in the autumn. It is highly tempting to do the Cheddar Gorge marathon again in August but I just don’t know. It doesn’t sell out so I’m playing it by ear. I know it’s very similar to what I did this year which caused me then to get injured but the marathons are a bit more spaced out this time. I think if I did do it I’d need to take proper time off before building the miles back up again for Chester. But anyway, two marathons (all being well) is my plan.

Another race in the plan is the Cakeathon in May (one of my favourite races and my favourite medals). I’m also signed up to the Marathon Talk Run Camp in February (with which I’m also signed up to the New Forest Heartbreak Half). So I’m quite excited about the year ahead. I just need to stay sensible, keep focused and listen to my body.

Aside from running, this year obviously wasn’t that great for me personally. This time last year if you’d have told me I would be living in a flat with Alfie on my own and Ben living in Switzerland I’d have laughed at you. But I’ve grown stronger and more independent because of it. Life doesn’t always go how you think it will and you have to roll with the punches and get out alive. I have no idea what my life will look like this time next year but I’m excited, optimistic and ready for the challenges ahead.

Have a lovely Christmas, and I’ll see you on the other side!

What are your Christmas plans?

What do you hope to achieve in 2016?

What races do you have planned?

November 4, 2015

Running Survey

As I can’t blog about any current running, I can do a running survey instead! This is stolen from Mary’s blog and I love the questions so thought I’d steal it…

Would you rather run along a beach path or on a mountain trail? I’d much prefer a mountain trail. This is probably because I live by the sea at the moment so I’m quite used to running along beach paths. Also I detest running against wind and it can get very windy along the coast. It just feels so demoralising to be putting in so much effort and not getting anywhere fast. You could argue that mountains are, well, hilly but at least you can get to the top and feel like superman/woman. And the views are amazing.

If you could choose the flavour of Gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be? I’ve never had Gatorade. I’m really not a fan of the sugary sports drinks. I know they work for some people, especially for those who don’t want to take gels, but they make me feel a bit sick and I don’t feel they quench my thirst. I love plain water or nuun/High5 water.

If I gave you a £100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it? Where do I start?? I could be sensible like Mary and say trainers…but I just love fitness clothes. For running I tend to go with more sensible gear in terms of fabric, technical spec, fit and survival in different weathers.

When it comes to the gym I like to spruce things up a bit with colours and style as I have a bit more freedom as weather doesn’t matter. But back to running, I would probably buy a couple of Nike or Adidas items as they’re such good quality and last forever. Though you wouldn’t get much from the price! Ka-ching!

Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run? I don’t follow a strict plan per se, but I do plan out the weeks in terms of what I want to achieve. It depends if I have a marathon coming up or a race of course but I will never go out on a run without knowing how far I’m going to go. But if the run goes awfully (niggles, illness, tiredness) I’ll cut it short, I’ll never force myself to finish a set of miles purely for the sake of ticking a box. Though I’m quite neurotic and like to plan ahead. I use a spreadsheet to track things. When it comes to marathons I tend to look at online plans and see where the long runs fall and then do my own thing for the other runs.

Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill? Definitely get the uphill done and dusted first. That way I can run it when I’m fresh and then focus on the rest of the course afterwards without dreading the oncoming hill. That said, I don’t really mind as long as I know where the hill is so at least I’m mentally prepared. For Bournemouth I was well aware of two significant hills (miles 12 & 18) so IN THEORY I could have adjusted my strategy accordingly. Well, we all know how that turned out in reality.

When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do? I like Mary’s answer of sulking. I’m getting an A* for that at the moment 😉 But, like I said in my previous post, I’m focused on building strength at the gym. I had previously been following the New Rules of Lifting For Women but I’ve put it on hold at the moment as Stage 2 requires a lot of lunges which I’m avoiding for the moment as I want to give my knee some TLC.

Cardio-wise…*sighs* I suppose spinning and rowing. Boring and purely for the purpose of keeping fit.

What is your preference—> Out and back, point to point or loop runs? Oooh I’m just not sure. I like an out and back because you get to know the course and nothing’s a surprise in the second half of the race. I also like that you can think you’re running back to the finish. But I like loops as well (Cheddar Gorge marathon was great for this, mentally I could segment the two halves). Again, the course is no surprise in the second loop. I’m not a big fan of point to points as it feels like one big trek to the finish. Mentally I find that a lot harder. Hello, Boston 😉

If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, it would be a—> BodyGlide. Chafing is a bitch. It takes two seconds to put on but days of pain if forgotten. It’s small to pack in your pre-race bag and I personally find it lasts a bit longer than good old Vaseline. That said, it’s better than nothing!

Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs? I love how random this question is. Not really as I tend to run around residential areas. This is such a boring answer sorry!

Ever gotten lost while out on a run? Surprisingly not as much as I probably should do considering how little of a sense of direction I have. I’ve run in quite a few places that I’ve never run before and just made the route up as I went, but most of the time when I do that I play it safe and do an out and back. It also helps doing that when I have a set distance I want to hit. I hate having to think too much about my route when running which is why, unless I’m running with others, I’ll always do the same routes.

If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days… what would that meal be? As much as I love planning what to have when I’ve finished a race or a long run, the reality is it takes me quite a while before I actually fancy eating anything. I have got better though with protein shakes to make sure I’m not a quivering wreck later in the day. My KFC after Cheddar Gorge marathon was pretty damn tasty but I wouldn’t want that all the time. Dream world it’d be ribs (like I did after the Southampton half marathon that I made into 18 miles), but reality porridge is one of my standards. Then cake.

Capris or shorts… what do you run in most often? Shorts. My lower body doesn’t tend to get that cold when I run. It’s more my hands and arms. I much prefer the freedom of shorts and during a marathon I like to wear compression socks and capris and compression socks aren’t a great combo (weird naked knee syndrome).

At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go? Probably 5 miles in, which is why 5ks royally suck for me. I think my perfect distance is 10 miles (which ironically is my worst race distance so far). I absolutely don’t understand how people can do races less than one mile. We’re all different though and I have a huge amount of respect for short distance runners. My body doesn’t just doesn’t like short speedy stuff.

What do you do with your key when you run? This is terrible but when I’m at the club I used to put it on the wheel of my car…until I realised you could leave it in a locked room. If I run from home I take the key off the keyring and then pop it down my sports bra if I don’t have any pockets.

If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be? Like Mary said, I’m not sure I’d want to relive any races. Races are hard and generally if you got a PB it was really hard so I wouldn’t want to go back there. After getting my 10k PB in the summer I swore I’d only run one 10k a year!

If I could re-do a race to improve on it then I would definitely re-do Bournemouth.

Or at least the weeks leading up to it. I don’t want to live in regret but I can’t help feel so bitter about a marathon that was supposed to be run just for fun. As many people have said though, I was pushing it with two marathons so close to each other (and three marathons in less than 6 months) and not really recovering properly between them. I don’t regret doing Cheddar Gorge as I loved it so much…but if I hadn’t have done it and Bournemouth went well? I don’t know if I could choose between them. I do wish now that I hadn’t forced myself to finish Bournemouth. Initially I said I didn’t regret it, but now I realise that one race isn’t worth so much time off for an injury. No medal is that good. But lessons have been learnt.

What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on? Generally that it will mean I have to rearrange my week’s plan if I miss a run! I’m that anal about these things. If I say I’m going to do something I will do it unless something legitimate stops me. Even if I feel really demotivated about a run I know as soon as I start going I’ll be fine. I’d rather push myself to go then spend the rest of the day annoyed that I didn’t.

When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start? Either I’ll run straight from my office, straight from my front door, or I’ll run from my club or parkrun. Depends what day it is!

When running in daylight—> are sunglasses a must or an annoyance? I have a really good pair of (cheap) sunglasses that just sit really nicely when I run. I hate getting blinded by the sun.

When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting? Fear of failure! If I have a goal in mind I will really push myself to reach it. If I don’t hit it it’s because the goal was unrealistic (I’ve set myself stupid goals many a time!) or something out of my control happened (illness, injury, weather, etc.). I’m a very driven person. Of course I have demons in my head and self-doubt but if the goal is achievable from the training I’ve put it then I will do everything I can to get there. A killer playlist as well is a great motivator for me, or crowds. Something like that can suddenly flick a switch inside me to GO GO GO despite how I might have felt 30 seconds before.

Pick a few questions and answer – I’d love to know your responses!