My First Marathon - London 2011

My Marathon Experience
(read my Marathon report here)

This blog started when I began my training for the Virgin London Marathon 2011; With it being my first ever marathon, I felt the added motivation of writing a blog, for all to see, would be a great way to motivate myself, which it was...

At first, I thought it would be a bit like going to Weight Watchers - I was always so much more motivated to lose weight when I knew someone else was going to comment on it! - However, what I found was so much more; I found a community of people who also LOVE to run, love reading about what others are doing in their running and enjoy the support, encouragement and motivation that goes along with it. 

My training plan for the marathon lasted 16 weeks, and it certainly all didn't go to plan; By the time I finished I felt like I should be an elite athlete with the amount of people involved in my training: Pete, my running coach; Jo, the evil lovely, physio;  the excited students at the University of Salford Podiatry Clinic; a network of bloggers...

With all of those people involved, you'd think that I'd have felt more than ready for the challenge at hand when I stood anxiously in pen 6 in Blackheath on 17th April 2011, but I don't think anyone ever really feels ready and I was still uncertain as to whether I would complete the full 26.2 miles.

However, as soon as I started, that question flew right out the window - or maybe ran right past me and I missed it as it did take me a very long time - 5.46.15 to be precise!

photo by Louisa Emery

Time aside, I am now a proud Virgin London Marathon Finisher. I ran the course and I completed it; it was the greatest achievement of mine yet. And that's because it was challenging; it took hard work, stamina and determination. I learnt that running such a distance is as much of a mental challenge, as it is a physical one - perhaps even more so! -  and I learnt that I am not a natural distance runner! 

Did I enjoy my marathon experience? Overall, yes. And it's something I would recommend every runner tries at least once - the feeling of achievement is second to none.

Will I run another marathon again? Probably not. I say 'probably', not because I'm undecided - if you've ever run continuously for over 5 hours, you'll understand why - but because I'm the sort of person who never says 'never'... you'd have to twist my arm pretty hard behind my back before you convinced me though!

Running for CHICKS:

I chose to support CHICKS, the children's charity, in my marathon. The work they do for disadvantaged children in the UK is amazing and they deserve all the support they can get. You can read more about why I chose them and the work they do here. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me.

Marathon Training Mileage:


Week 1: 21.69               Week 2: 30.73                Week 3: 30.07                Week 4: 35.20            Week 5: 32.20              Week 6: 35.82                Week 7: 0 (Inj)               Week 8: 9.49                  Week 9: 23.78              Week 10: 30.00             Week 11: 18.50               Week 12: 13.72           Week 13: 35.56             Week 14: 21.00              Week 15: 12.36               Week 16: 34.00       


Total: 385.00 miles (Last updated: 19th April 2011)






Marathon Training Plan:

wk/beg		Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
27th Dec		REST	6 miles S	1.5 miles T	CLUB Q	REST	3  miles S	10 miles L	25
					3-5 miles
3rd Jan		CLUB Q	1.5 miles R	6 miles S	CLUB Q	1.5 miles R	12 miles L		27
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
10th Jan		CLUB Q	1.5 miles R	2 miles S	5 miles S	2 miles T	14 miles L	1.5 miles R	29
		3-5 miles
17th Jan		CLUB Q	1.5 miles R	6 miles S	CLUB Q	2 miles S	10 miles L		26
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
24th Jan		CLUB Q	6 miles S	1.5 miles R	CLUB Q	2 miles S	16 miles L		30
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
31st Jan		CLUB Q	5 miles S	REST	CLUB Q	2 miles S	18 miles L		28
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
7th Feb		CLUB Q	REST	4 miles T	CLUB Q	12 miles L	REST + 3 miles		33
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
14th Feb		CLUB Q	2 mile R	6 miles S	CLUB Q	REST	13 miles L	REST	32
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
21st Feb		CLUB Q	REST	7 miles S	CLUB Q	2 miles R	REST	GNW 1/2 Marathon 15 miles	30
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
28th Feb		CLUB Q	REST	7 miles S	CLUB Q	2 miles R	REST	Trimpell 20   22 miles	37
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
7th Mar		CLUB S	REST	10 miles S	CLUB Q	2 miles R	REST	Trafford 10k	32
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles			10 miles
14th Mar		CLUB Q	6 miles T	2 miles R	CLUB Q	10 miles L	Steve's Wedding REST	REST	26
		3-5 miles			3-5 miles
21st Mar		REST	4 miles R	Yasso 800	CLUB Q	REST	REST	Wilmslow Half 19	35
					3-5 miles
28th Mar		CLUB Q	REST	Vera Hirst	CLUB Q	3 miles R	REST	Wakefield City 10k 8 miles	27
		3-5 miles		5k	3-5 miles
				6 miles
4th Apr		CLUB Q	REST	Brenda Robinson 5k  6miles	CLUB S	3 miles S	REST	8 miles L	30
		3-5 miles			3-4 miles
11th Apr		CLUB Q	REST	4 miles S	CLUB S	REST	REST	VLM	36
		3-5 miles			3-4 miles

Pink = Races (mileage includes added warm-up and cool down)

Yellow = GOAL!

Q = quality session =  hills / speed / tempo / endurance

T = tempo run (8.30 - 8 min miles)

S = steady run (9.30 - 9 min miles)

R - recovery run (11 - 10 min miles)