This week I’m celebrating being 1 stone lighter than I was when I started with Rash and Nish at Lift365. In actual fact I am now 17 pounds down from my heaviest weight last summer. It’s been a hard journey and I guess comparatively slow. But for me this has been about taking control of my health (and more broadly my life) and really changing things for the better. 

The exercise side of the plan has been relatively easy. The joy of having a personal trainer is that you just show up and do what they tell you. Haha if only it was as simple as it sounds! That said working with Rash has been enlightening. I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and muscles and what works for me. I’ve learned how to isolate muscles and found some I didn’t know I had! Rash has taught me about good form and how heavy is just right. I’ve found that I enjoy weight training (it’s definitely more fun than running!). All this has allowed me to really understand what I’m doing with each exercise which will come in handy should I ever leave Lift365. 

The food side hasn’t been easy. At all. I’ve been a fad dieter all my adult life. Food has always been a comfort or reward. It’s been hard to break the mind set of ‘dieting’ and instead think about eating healthily. I’ve taken it slowly though (perhaps too slowly) and gradually my diet has improved. I’m not just eating more healthily I’m also thinking about food in a different way. It is no longer a reward, treat or comfort.  I’m also taking the time to rediscover foods. I’ve found that lots of food I used to eat regularly I simply ate out of habit and I didn’t really like. I also shiny new foods like quinoa and quark (although the jury is still out on that one!).  Don’t get my wrong I still crave ‘bad’ foods and I still eat chocolate most days but I now consider the consequences of that choice which helps me rein in the little voice in my head telling me to eat the whole tub of Ben and Jerry’s! One of the important things I’ve learned is how to deal with mistakes. In the past if I had given in to the craving and eaten all the chocolate or a whole tub of ice cream I would have felt awful and either given in to all my cravings or been really restrictive of food for the next week. Now I’m trying to follow the advice of a wise woman and be kind to myself. It’s ok to make mistakes. That’s how we learn. 

So 1 stone down. What next? The plan is to keep going. I don’t actually have a final goal weight or dress size in mind. I want to be healthy and feel good about myself. There’s still a long way to go to healthy so I’ll see how I feel when I get there. First though I need to get down to a nice healthy weight/BMI/body fat. For me that’s at least another stone away. Probably more. The aim is to lose this next one a little quicker. Hopefully by my birthday in August. I just need to keep up a slow but steady progress. That requires two things I’m not very good at yet. Patience and consistency. Fun times ahead! 

This is my last post about the marathon I promise! Even I’m getting tired of hearing and talking about it. 

In the grand tradition of running blogs this entry is supposed to be a post-event overview but to be honest there isn’t much to say. The first half was tough the second half was worse and involve me getting almost run over by a giant Bagpuss (he was on the telly!). Although my legs muscles are a little sore it’s my joints that truly hate me now. But I did have some fun along the way. Not least because my iPod decided to play Hammertime 3 times in the course of 2 hours (can’t touch this) 😄

Besides any pain I’m in now is entirely my own fault. I didn’t train properly and somewhere along the way I lost enthusiasm in the whole thing which I think was worse. I am however very glad I did it. Not least cause I managed a course PB, and the whole process has taught me a lot. Such as 

1) if a training programme recommends lots of running you should probably do that (or at least some of it)

2) I really don’t like running and am not a natural distance runner

3) my dislike of Blackpool marathon was not just because it was horrible but also because I don’t like running. Had I not run London again I would always have wondered. 

4) while physical fitness is important mental strength is perhaps even more so. I clearly didn’t do the training required to run a marathon but positive thinking, self-belief and sheer stubbornness got me round in a fairly decent time (albeit slow) and without permanent injury 😄

5) London 2012, while being both my first and slowest marathon, will always be the one I enjoyed most

While it was my little legs and crazy mind that got me round the course on Sunday I couldn’t have done it without the support of my dear family and friends. Massive thank you to you all for putting up with all the running talk, for encouraging me and for cheering me on!

Extra special thanks go to:

– Tom who managed to convince me that I could run further than a 10K in the first place, for braving the hideous Blackpool marathon with me, and for all the support and advice along the way.

– Ying for braving that first half marathon with me on an unseasonable warm April day in Edinburgh.

– Anne Caroline for getting me fit enough to try my second marathon and PB the half marathon shortly beforehand. It was the first (and only) time I ran all the way round! 

– Rash and Nish at Lift365 for trying to encourage me to run and getting my fitness back up to a level where I could survive the marathon. 

– and last but by no means least, Agata from Bromley Massage Therapy who tried her best to fix my very tight muscles ahead of the marathon so I wouldn’t injury something. Plus she going to (hopefully) fix all the marathon damage later this week. 

That’s the last big run I do and the last one I will blog about (probably). In the future I will be focusing on getting my weight down, fitness up and trying to lift heavier weights 😄🏋🏻

So I’ve been keeping pretty calm on the build up to race day. This has generally been through refusing to think about it properly and breaking it down into little tasks. Tuesday this week I bought all my supplies and started putting together stuff I needed to take. Thursday I went to the expo and registered. Saturday I got my kit bag packed and checked through my iPod to make sure I wouldn’t have to skip stuff too much. 

This morning was less calm. I tried to break things down again. First have breakfast (not easy when nervous), shower, dressed, triple check all kit and train times then walk to the station. That’s all done now and I’m on my way to the start with plenty of time to get lost, delayed or queue several times for the toilets. But I’m fast approaching the point where the next thing to do will be ‘run the marathon’ and no matter how much I try to break it down I have a rising sense of panic! Hopefully it’ll be fine once I start but that’s a few hours off yet!!!

Deep breaths. Think calm. Keeps eyes open for famous people 😊😳🏃🏻. 🏅?

Just one little week left and it will all be over. I’m very much looking forward to not having to think about running and not having to feel guilty about not running. I’m hoping the day itself goes well but to be honest I’m not sure it will. As I’m sure you can imagine I am feeling very underprepared and quite anxious. I think determination to finish (or sheer stubbornness) will see me through. Only time will tell and it’s gonna take a long time for Tam to get round the course!! 

Just have to stay positive, enjoy being outside and keep putting one foot in front of the other (preferably in the direction of the finish line!). 

With just over a week to go it’s time to accept that there’s not much left to do before the big day. No amount of running training now is going to help. 

I’ve been fairly defiant of the standard marathon training rules so far – I’ve not stuck to a consistent programme of varied running training, I don’t carbo-load and I haven’t yet run anything into double figures since my last marathon in 2013. There are a few rules that are not to be messed with though including not running in shiny new kit and not trying fancy new food the day before or day of a race. 

That does leave me with one rule led to break though. And break it I did 😄 never get your first sports massage just before the big day. Now while yesterday’s massage was my second and it was a good week before the big day it does rather fly in the face of convention which lets face it is part of the fun! Many people take this marathon training Malarky far too seriously. 

The massage itself went well. My first massage just a week before hand had been tough and very painful and the lovely lady masseuse said that I had the tightest muscles she’d seen in a long while. That apparently is not a compliment! She was amazed I could run at all let alone run a marathon. Still she did her best to fix me and the results of her hard work proved good in my second massage. This time it was lots less painful (note I said less not un painful). Apparently my back, hamstrings and calves are 40-50% better than they were and even my quads and hips (my main concern) are better. That’s me done though till after the big day. So in the mean time I’m going to stretch, foam roll and hot bath my way through the next week in the hopes that my legs and hips last the course. I’m sure it’ll be fine 😊

Next challenge is deciding what I’m going to eat/drink on the day. Do I switch to gels? Or stick to old faithful jelly beans? I have a week to trial stuff and figure it out. All fun and games this running lark 🏃🏻

There is now less than 2 weeks to go until the big day and I’m starting to feel a little nervous. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I haven’t done much in the way of running training so far and a fair bit to do with so many people telling me I shouldn’t do it. To be fair they probably have a point. I initially entered the ballot to see if I could run a third marathon (3 makes it science) and hopefully better my time. Somewhere along the way though it became more important for me to succeed in the challenge of training. That may sound stupid to most people but I’ve done 2 marathons and 7 half marathons to date and some of very little/no training. So I know come race day I’m stubborn enough to complete the course. I know my physical limits so I’m unlikely to push myself too hard but I’ll get there in the end. The challenge for me has always been with training. More specifically with consistent training. I tend to lose interest, get injured or get distracted and time flies by before I’ve really noticed. Sadly that was also the case this time. Despite my best intentions time has flown by over the last few months and I have failed to run consistently. That said I have been working out at least twice a week, I have improved both my strength and aerobic fitness and am now seeing a sports masseuse who is going to try to fix me before the big day. So I am hopeful that the day itself will be quite fun if a little painful. 

The plan then for the next few weeks is some what different to my fellow runners. They have all put in lots of running training and have thoroughly exhausted themselves if the latest Facebook posts are anything to go by. Many are also injured so by comparison I’m not doing too bad. They are now looking to taper their running over the next few weeks so that they are full of energy on the start line. I’ve never really understood the point of tapering but then I’ve never run enough beforehand to get a chance to taper 😊 this time will be no different. 

I currently have a week or so off work. I will mostly be concentrating on studying but it does give me the time and, more importantly, the daylight to fit in a few weekday runs. The aim is to fit in 3 runs before I back to work on 18th. If I do more then great! But it seems unrealistic to expect that I will based on past behaviour. I’m gonna do 2 short(ish) runs of 5-10k just to get my legs used to running and figure out the best outfit for the current weather and then try a longer one mostly so I can burn off enough calories to try out some gels. In the past I have fuel on sugar (generally jelly beans or chocolate raisins) but thought I’d try gels this time. Less stuff to carry being the main incentive. I also have round 2 with my sports masseuse to look forward to. I still have bruises from round 1 which was a week ago!! Apparently all my muscles are consistently tight and she was amazed I managed to run at all, ever, let alone run 2 marathons before. She’s going to work on loosening my shins, calves and hamstrings which are so tight they are causing my hip flexors to hurt pretty much all the time. Hopefully it will help me get round more of the course before things start to hurt. Anything up to 18 miles would be great as I can push through for the last few miles. But time will tell. 

In the interim I’m going to have one final push to reach my fundraising target. I’m only £140 short now so should be doable. Feel free to donate after reading this by visiting my fundraising page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/trainingtam 😄 

When I first started running I thought the sensible thing to do was invest in a really good pair of running shoes. A friend and I went for gait analysis fun some place I can’t remember and I was told to get Saucony’s. I was new to running so I went with the advice. The day I bought my first pair of Brooks I had an epiphany. I suddenly understood that running could be fun and relatively painless. My Saucony’s were heavy, solid shoes that always gave me blisters on my arches no matter the distance. That first run in my Brooks was light, bouncy and completely blister free. In fact every run in my beloved Brooks has been the same. All runs that is until the Blackpool marathon (2013). Either the miles were too much or the shoes had finally had enough of my heavy footedness (usually brought on by fatigue after about 10miles) but they started to give out on me (taking 3 toe nails with them). The bounce had gone 😟 it was a very sad day. But since I pretty much gave up running after Blackpool I figured it didn’t matter. 

Over the last year I have tried to find a good replacement shoe but all have fallen short. Even the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14s (3 versions newer but the same model as my old shoes) failed to impress. With the London marathon looming and training (at least the running side of it) going slowly I needed to find new shoes. I had tried a few short runs in my old trainers but the rest of nearly 3 years had not helped them recover their bounce (it was a long shot but I was hopeful). After a few messages exchanged with Brooks Running UK on Twitter (they were very helpful and quick to respond) I took the plunge and bought the latest version of my beloved shoes. The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 16s arrived last night all shiny and new. I took them out today for a quick sprint session and while the magic of that first run with my GTS 11s was still lacking, they were infinitely better than all the other shoes I had tried. I’ve now got just 60 days to bond with them before the big day!!  

For nostalgias sake here is a photo of the old and new. 

This is a question I’ve been asked many times by many people over the years. My usual response is something generic like ‘to get fitter’, ‘to spend more time outside’ or ‘because I like the swishy thing my ponytail does when I run’. During the build up to my first marathon I got asked a lot more not only ‘why do you run?’ but also ‘why run a marathon?’  The simple answer was ‘to see if I could’ closely followed by ‘why not?’ . 

At the time that seemed like a good enough answer and for the most part the final run (also known as Race Day) was fun enough to make all the training worth it. Now with less than 9 weeks to go till my next marathon I’m struggling to find the motivation to train or at least running training. Long runs are tedious and lonely, the weather is rubbish and all week day runs are in the dark. Realistically I know that the more running I do now the more I will enjoy Race Day but the sad truth is that is no longer enough. Truth be told I don’t like running. This rather surprising realisation led me to ask myself why I feel the need to do another marathon. 

One thing to mention is that despite the slowness of my first marathon and the pain of the following few days, London Marathon 2012 was one of the best days of my life. It’s up there with walking the Great Wall of China with my mum, having a real life Lemur sitting on my shoulder in Madagascar and meeting my nephews for the first time. It was the first time I had ever done something entirely for myself and predominantly by myself. No-one told me to do it and I wasn’t trying to prove to anyone I could. Some people actively discouraged me from running saying it was too far and would ultimately be bad for me. Most people called me crazy. But through all the training I proved to myself that I could self-motivate and improve myself. That being said I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement of my dear friends and family. The cheering on Race Day along the route alone was spectacular 😄.

So VLM2012 was a brilliant day. Why not leave it at that? Why run it again? For most people the second and all future marathons are about getting a better time or feeling better at the finish. For me neither of those are that important. A better time would be great but it’s more about proving to myself that I can do it again. That the first one (and second one for that matter) wasn’t a fluke. This is even more important considering the backslide in my fitness over the last few years.

Although I have every intention of running in and completing VLM2016, the question remains what is it about Race Day that I love so much? And is there any way I can replicate that in a non-running activity? I know I like to challenge myself. I like to push the boundaries of what I believe I can do and (hopefully) surprise myself. Running has given me that but perhaps it’s time to find some other fitness activity or competition that can do the same without all the long, tedious runs through dark London streets. Something to think about for the next 67 days 😊 any suggestions are welcome.

I’m getting asked ‘how’s the training going’ a lot at the moment. So thought it might be worth a quick update. 

I started training back in November. I know it’s a little late since I knew I had a marathon place back in June but better than not starting at all. I decided to enlist the help of professionals. So I signed up for personal trading sessions with Lift365. They are a lovely couple who have a studio just down the road from me. And it thankfully isn’t part of a gym. All the other trainers I looked at were either based at a gym or wanted to come to my home. My flat is only just big enough for me to train I doubt I could fit a second person in. 

Anyway Nishan and Rashmi from Lift365 have been training me for the last few months. They have taught me all about weight lifting and muscles and are trying to teach me about nutrition. It’s slowly sinking in and I am slowly making changes to my diet which is helping. Through them I am getting stronger, fitter and lighter. All good 😄

‘But what about running?’ I hear you ask. Some running training will indeed be necessary to get me through the marathon. I started running again in January and have been attempting 2 runs a week since then. Sadly illness has kept me from running for a few weeks but I’m back out there now in the very blustery weather. I’m hoping that running into strong winds will somehow help make me faster come race day but I’m not convinced it will. 

At some point soon I am going to push for 3 runs a week while also maintaining my 2 sessions a week with the trainers. Might try to fit in some yoga too as I think stretching will be key to keeping my hip flexors happy. 

If you want to know more about my training please comment below or message me. Alternatively check out the Lift365 website (http://www.lift365.co.uk). It’ll give you a good idea of what I do twice a week. Plus there’s a great intro video on the homepage you can watch and play ‘Spot Tam’ 😄. they have also just launched online training videos so you can sign up and work out at home. Much more fun than going to a sweaty gym full of strangers! 

Soon my long runs will be getting to a respectably long distance so I will probably blog about them individually (assuming I survive!). This week I’m aiming for 10k with a half marathon looming before March and 20(ish) miles by the end of March 🏃🏻😊 hopefully it will be less windy by then. 

So today is the mind charity training day for their runners completing either London or Brighton marathons this year. Since I am sat here waiting for them to start talking it seemed like a good time to start writing in my blog again. 

I started this blog several years ago when I started training for my very first marathon. That was London 2012. And like the true Olympian spirited girl I am I have decided to run the London marathon ago this year 😄

In truth it was a massive coincidence that big years I’ve run London they have been Olympic years but it makes for a good story when fundraising. 

This is to be my third and final marathon. I have grown tired of how much time and effort it takes to prepare for such a distance. Plus I’m not really sure I like running. I’m hoping this year’s marathon will help me figure it out. 

As mentioned above I am fundraising so if you would like to donate or check up on how I’m doing please visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/trainingtam 

My future posts may well be sporadic (much like my training) but I will endeavour to make them more regular or at least consistently entertaining. 

Now let’s see what mind have to say about running ….