Another year, another London Marathon ‘sorry’ magazine – actually, not a magazine this time, just an email. An email with a broken hyperlink that achieved little more than delay my disappointment.
So when I heard there was a BHFR club space up for grabs (one of the many perks of EA affiliation) I put my name down and thought no more of it. It took me quite by surprise when my name was drawn from the hat at the Christmas do.
Up until Christmas my training had been strength-based – I’d gone all ‘CrossFit’. There were some token intervals thrown in for good measure but really, I wasn’t running much and this made running hard. My Strava monthly stats did not make good reading. Something had to change.
It didn’t, not in the way I’d hoped at least. I came down with a chesty cough that seemed to be going nowhere fast (much like me!!)
By mid-January, I was bored and starting to panic about training, so I went out on some short no-thrill jogs. This seemed to do the trick – I felt much better being out running again.
I then joined the Sunday club run group and started upping my distance. After a month of weekly long runs, running felt easier again.
By the end of February, I was doing weekly back-to-back long runs. It’s now March and long runs are anything up to marathon distance and nearly always hilly trails. But most importantly they are run at a relaxed conversational pace.
I’ve run all my long runs with friends from the club. I couldn’t imagine doing the training without them. I’m SO excited about taking part in the London Marathon but really, it’s been training with friends that I’ve loved the most. There are some truly amazing people at the club and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
– Sonia
