From July to December it was all about building a strong base, ready to tackle my first marathon block in January, things didn’t all go to plan, getting a stress fracture of my left foot (although I still ran the Great North Run with it, with a 10 min course PB and an overall PB), a trip to a private physio meant 7 weeks out and that was a long 7 weeks, jumping back on the bike to keep fitness up. Dave was so encouraging and caught up with me weekly to see what the physio’s had said and when we were looking likely to run again. After being back in training for only 4 weeks, I managed to get a Club Bronze Standard at Doncaster 10k which was my aim for 2025, going into the New Year things looked promising.
In good shape and ready to tackle my first marathon block I had a Zoom call with Dave to outline my goals, the plan and how it is going to look for the next 14 weeks, including already booked races, with the important runs being the interval/marathon paced efforts and the Sunday long runs, which increased by 10 minutes every week. Seeing the whole 14 weeks laid out made it easier to follow, knowing what was coming up and a lot less daunting.
A couple of weeks into the block I got a Half Marathon PB and Bronze standard at Brass Monkey and another Bronze standard and PB at Dewsbury 10k, a small confidence boost.
As the long runs started to get longer it was important to do these with club mates of similar ability and pace, it made the time fly by, always with a brew and cake at the end! 3 weeks out from Manchester and I had the Berlin Half Marathon (somehow got a spot in the ballot)! In the best shape of my life (except being constantly tired and hungry) I smashed a 2 min PB of 1:33:25, then it was taper time and I do not taper well. The constant demons and niggles, you suddenly question everything.
Race week approached and I was a bag of nerves, the fear of the unknown. I had a call with Dave on the Friday who calmed me down and just told me how well the block had gone, just to go out there and enjoy it for the first one.
Race day came and I was surprisingly calm, the thought of becoming a marathoner I had a feeling of excitement, nerves came at the start line with the lady next to me holding my arm and saying “it’s ok, you’ve got this”, I must have looked like a rabbit in the headlights, then it was go time.
The plan was to set off steadier for the first half and re-assess at half way, settled into a pace that felt comfortable and seeing club mates and family at miles 2, 4 & 6 was a real boost, the atmosphere, in particular Altrincham was something I have never experienced in a race before, it was electric! The half-way point came, and I had to decide, do I stick with this pace or do I try to speed up? The decision was to increase pace and see what happens, still feeling comfortable, gels were going down well every 30 mins along with water at every aid station, soaking up the incredible atmosphere and then suddenly it was just 1 Parkrun to go. Saw family and club mates at mile 24 and the realisation came that I have almost done this and a sub 3:30 is on the cards, the body was getting tired but I was so determined to keep pushing on, turning into the home stretch all the emotions poured out of me and I cried my way over the finish line to become part of the <1% club being a marathoner in a 3:28:03 which is more than I could ever dream of for my first marathon.
I worked so hard and gave everything to that marathon block, following it every day but also prioritising recovery, which in the past is something I have been poor at and I am proud to say that the hard work paid off.
