The events at Boston were sad, and sick, and awful but we’re not letting that ruin our enjoyment of London. There’s less than a week till race day, and Lorna is feeling nervous but ready.
Name: Lorna Mann
Age: 29
Marathon history: First marathon – London 2013
Goal: to finish in one piece!
I wrote the below blog entry yesterday morning before the shock of events at Boston, so please forgive anything that seems so trivial in the wake of something so sad. I read a tweet this morning that hit a nerve – “If you run, take a moment to think about why you do it, it’s the right day for that”. That statement touched me and made me take a breath and think of the journey I’ve been on as someone who has recently fell in love with running. Ultimately I run because I want to be a better person, which I know is incredibly selfish. However I’d like to think that in being that better person through running I’ve become a more caring, more focused and more genuine person, and not just because of my own hard work but because of the relentless support of my immediate running family led by my phenomenal personal trainer James and that of those who have carried me through this amazing experience – both close friends who I have known for years and those who I’ve never actually met in person but shared so much with recently.
What I learnt this week: Never underestimate the power of a good sports massage
I’ve taken some beatings along the way during training but none more effective than the actual beating that a decent sports massage gives you. I have visited the oh so dynamic Mei at Purus Covent Garden more or less every three weeks since beginning training and she’s been wonderful. She’s cleared up a nasty back, she’s re-energised my tired legs after each long run, and she’s listened to every woe and celebrated every trainer purchase… this week, she made me feel pain like never before… and I can’t thank her enough. She helped clear some nerves, calm me down and keep me miraculously injury free too!
This Week’s Marathon Training Blog:
Energizer Night Run
I mentioned nerves – I’m full of them. It’s been a rollercoaster of a week… sometimes the nerves have been good, made me smile, made me feel on top of the world and ready to take on my biggest ever challenge. Other times these nerves have been crushingly painful to overcome, making me doubt my level of fitness, doubt myself completely, not able to listen to and accept the wonderful advice and generous encouragement thrown my way.
I’m proud to say I’m mainly feeling positive as I head into ‘crunch week’ – mainly down to a couple of reality checks over the weekend. First, I ran a 10k race and hit a personal best despite the crappy weather and me not going at it full steam (I was apprehensive as I didn’t want to risk any kind of injury no matter how slight). This race was fun, fun, fun! It was the first ever Energiser Night Run in Battersea Park and not only was it brilliantly organised and well put together but it made me feel so so positive about running and why I’m doing what I’m doing. The runners were happy, the supporters were fantastic despite being soaked through to their skin and the atmosphere was electric.
Photo by Energizer Night Run
Secondly I turned to two of the people who matter the most to me and had two good old head clearing chats with them. Talking through my supposed doubts out loud made me realise how ridiculous I was being. The combination of these two different ‘penny drop’ moments finally made me realise that I am as ready as I’ll ever be – now all I have to do is run. Eeek!
Energizer medal
Now, anyone that has trained for a race knows how hard training is – I don’t have to preach to the converted – however looking back I am not sure I was ready for training to completely take over every aspect of my life like it has done. Don’t get me wrong, I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I’ve loved every bit of these past eight months (even the lowest of the low points) and I vow to keep on this amazing fitness journey – but my god I barely recognise myself. I had the naive opinion that training would just ‘make me fitter’ (which it has done) but it’s also constantly changing the way I physically look (which can be unsettling at times), it challenges my state of mind week in week out and made me more aware of the kind of person I am vs who I want to be. Training has made me more goal orientated too. I’ve set and achieved so many short term goals in this small amount of time, and set myself once unimaginable long term goals too – and not just in my fitness life. Now all I have to do is run this marathon and achieve what I once thought was unimaginable… keep your fingers crossed for me and thank you for all your support getting me to the start line!
Weekly training stats: Miles/kms covered: 10k.
Tuesday 9 April
60 mins upper body training with personal trainer James.
45mins yoga at home
Wednesday 10 April
75mins of Yang & Yin Yoga at Good Vibes
Thursday 11 April
Rest
Friday 12 April
60 mins training with personal trainer James – mostly involved lovely strong stretches
Saturday 6 April
10k Energiser Night Run
Sunday 7 April
Rest
Monday 8 April
Rest
Running tracks of the week: Get Up, Bingo Players. Express Yourself, Diplo.
Read all earlier marathon blogs here.
