weight loss – Project Healthy Fit Me

Whose Parkrunning this weekend?

17/01/202014/01/2020 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in General, Races & Race Reviews

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In case you don’t know Parkrun is a free to enter 5k event that takes place in hundreds of locations across the globe every Saturday morning (normally 9am in the UK), you just need to make sure your register on the Parkrun website first to get your own personalised barcode to ensure your time gets recorded
While many people are loyal to their local Parkrun, Parkrun Tourism or Parkrun challenges are growing in popularity
I’ve only ever taken part in Parkrun a handful of times, but its something I definitely plan to change in 2020 & have challenged myself to visit a different Parkrun each month, starting with my local events Orsett, Billericay, Valentines, Mile End, Southend, Barking, Chelmsford, Gorleston, Dartford, Harrow Lodge and Raphaels.
As I mentioned earlier Parkrun challenges are becoming popular, with the alphabet challenge being the most popular, attending a Parkrun beginning with every letter of the Alphabet, its definitely not the easiest of challenges I believe J & Z are only possible to complete if you are prepared to get on a plane but a little ‘Runcation’ could be fun right?
Or there’s is the Pirate challenge where you have to complete 7 Parkruns beginning with the letter C & one beginning with the letter R, this challenge is definitely easier than the alphabet challenge and could be a fun one to start with
Or Parkrun Bingo consists of finishing a Parkrun for every second on a stopwatch so all of your Parkrun finish times finish in different seconds
Find out more about Parkrun & each of the challenges below and let me know if you know you’re favourite Parkrun & why or maybe you know of another Parkrun challenge, please share I’m all for making activity as fun as possible
Parkrun
The Alphabet Challenge
The Pirate Challenge
Parkrun Stopwatch Bingo

(Please note that none of these challenges are official Parkrun challenges & you do not have to do the events listed to complete the challenge if you have other local Parkruns that fit into the challenge & the links provided are either to the Parkrun blog or to other Parkrun fans blogs)

Don’t Judge a Stranger, You Never Know What They Are Battling

14/01/202014/01/2020 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in General

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I saw this article a few months ago and while I wholeheartedly agree with most points made, there is one sentence that is really niggling me, that months later, I can’t stop thinking about and is beginning to annoy me

‘Every single person in the history of the world has A TON OF WILLPOWER.

You have the willpower to get up every day and go to work’

I have probably taken the sentence in the totally wrong way, but it’s a flippant comment that getting out of bed and going to work is easy, it’s a given that its something we do automatically without thinking about it and that’s just not true for everyone, it’s not true of me

I gave up my job back in 2016 to try and salvage my mental health, almost every day despite having 10hrs sleep I still struggle to get out of bed and when I do I am still exhausted & have zero energy or motivation to do whatever I had planned for that day, even if its something enjoyable like lunch with friends

Whether they are suffering from physical or mental health issues for many getting out of bed is difficult, I remember an occasion where I was sick in a bin outside my office because I was in such a dark place mentally and didn’t think I could put on the fake smile that day & pretend that everything was ok

One of the reasons I stopped working in 2016 was to try and improve my mental health, but I actually think it’s had the opposite effect, I have lost all routine & structure in my life, I no longer have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, to many I have the perfect life, all I have to do with my week is go for a walk, a run or a fitness class, do some studying, a bit of housework, meet a friend for a coffee or lunch, yet all I manage to achieve most weeks is a walk or run most mornings as I force myself out as I know no matter how hard it is to get out of the door, it will make me feel a bit better about myself but that’s it one constructive hour a day

I haven’t seen some of my closest friends for over a year, because I have developed an anxiety about being too far from home, about being on public transport (I don’t drive) not to mention the fact that they will be able to see right through me & know my heads not happy.

So do you see what I mean?

It’s not as simple as getting out of bed and going to work for many of us, just to get that far is a huge battle

All of the above said I 100% agree with the rest of the article, it’s not recognising the value of our goals that stop us achieving them, we don’t give them enough priority, we don’t believe they are worth the time they take to achieve & we don’t value & believe in ourselves enough to give them the time and hard work they need

– I have always said to make an activity a genuine part of your life it needs to be something you enjoy, going to a dance class or for a walk or a run with a friend, you won’t even realise you are exercising if you find the right class for you

– Don’t worry what others think, believe me, they are more worried about their own workout than they are about yours, I actually posted exactly this a few months ago about my Clubbercise class, so many times I noticed I was going in the opposite direction to everyone else, often I stopped just to watch the steps as my brain couldn’t take them in and move at the same time, I am by far the least coordinated person in the class, I have been attending for 4 months and honestly couldn’t tell you any of the routines but I don’t care and neither does anyone else & I really enjoy it (obviously being that Clubbercise is in the dark helps but I enjoy Zumba in just the same way)

– Be realistic with your goals I needed/need to lose 4st, if I went on google I can find a million stories of people losing that kind of weight in a few months, but I know weight loss that quick isn’t healthy it’s not sustainable, so instead I’ve decided that I am in it for the long haul, I have given myself a year and I review that regularly and if that time frame needs extending so be it, I don’t want my diet to be restricted, I don’t want to have be exercising every day, I don’t want to give up the foods I love, I want something realistic and sustainable & something that I am happy to continue once my body is where I want it to be

– I totally understand the I have a lot on, I am stressed and adding another thing (exercise) to my to-do list is just adding to my stress but honestly it really does help. I remember when I worked in the city and I used to work 7am to 7pm with almost an hours commute each way on top of that, exercise definitely wasn’t a priority,

I remember once I had had a particularly stressful day, on top of that the trains were delayed but id promised to meet a friend for a run, we wouldn’t be heading out until almost 9pm, I hadn’t even had dinner, oh and it had been snowing, I really wanted to cancel but I hate letting people down, I stomped around the house getting ready for my run. I wasn’t in the mood for chit chat on the run, but honestly, within a few minutes I felt the stress lifting, like weights being removed from my shoulders and I actually returned with a smile on my face.

Its the number one reason why even when I don’t feel like it I manage to drag myself out for a walk most days as it lifts my head out of that funk, I promise it works give it a try, if you are having a tough day at work go for a 20-minute walk in your lunch break, it will help

– You don’t believe in yourself, you don’t believe you can achieve your goals so why put in the effort, this one is a constant battle for me but what’s the saying, ‘Nothing worth having is easy’ I can guarantee if you were to share your fears with friends and family, they would all have opposite opinions to yours, it amazes me that we can see the greatness in others but never in ourselves, so stop believing that voice in your head and start believing in yourself, start living to your full potential, yes your health and fitness goals may take some time, but that time is going to pass anyway & you are worth it!!

2020 Goals & Ambitions

11/01/202010/01/2020 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in General

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New Years Resolutions…. Love them or hate them?

Personally setting myself goals usually works for me, I try and make them realistic, things that with a bit of effort will definitely be achievable, over the last few years I’ll be honest I’ve failed at more than I’ve succeeded at but that’s life & I don’t beat myself up about those I don’t achieve.

This year I have set myself 10 goals, when I was thinking about them last week it felt like a lot but they felt totally achievable, in fact, the only one I was worried about was my ‘Meat Free Mondays’ now if I am honest they feel like a lot but I don’t have to achieve them all at once I have a whole 12 months, in fact, I have already achieved one and made progress on another few.

On Sunday I completed my Leadership in Running Fitness course, this one has been a goal of mine for so many years, when my head is in the game I love running, I love the sense of pride it gives me, I love that when I’m in a funk it clears my head & I want to get into a place where I am loving running again & loving how it makes me feel, so I can share that with others & plan to offer a free c25k style run club with a local Mental Health Charity

I’ve also lost some weight, only 2.4lbs (around 1kg) which considering I’m only one week on I’m really pleased with 28.6lbs to go – I plan to do a monthly update on my weight loss, hopefully with some nice recipe ideas but I need to up my game taking food photos, oh & I’ve also done my first Meat Free Monday, I don’t think I could ever go full-on vegetarian even though I really love animals, but I feel like even just by doing one day a week I am doing my bit

I have also been given the opportunity to earn some money, my friend Julie has invited me to help her with her online running community Too Fat to Run, I am really enjoying helping out and was already an avid fan & follower of the community before I started helping & actually helping in the group has highlighted another goal which already in my mind needed to be a priority for me in 2020,

Establishing a routine, I really think having some routine in my life will help my mental health too, I don’t have a full-time job so my days are mine yet so often I manage to accomplish absolutely nothing, over the last few weeks I have started making myself daily to-do lists on my phone which I then tick off as I complete each task, it’s definitely helping but there’s still room for improvement

I am so excited by the opportunity that Julie has offered me and I know I can offer her so much more support if I can be better organised, I feel like I need a schedule, I haven’t set an alarm for years & maybe I need to start, be up at 7.30am, out of the house by 9 for my workout, lunch at 12.30pm, TFTR work from 12.30-1.30pm kind of thing, then, then my afternoons are free for study, housework etc – Watch this space on that one

The others are a work in progress, I have a list of Parkruns I want to try and think I will be doing my first next weekend, my nutrition course I have already decided I am putting to one side until February (I want to establish a routine first and catch up on some life admin), finding my fitness mojo seems to be my biggest struggle at the moment, I just can’t seem to find my motivation, I signed up to Red January which I thought would really inspire me to move every day even if it was just for a 30-minute walk, but I think being ill for the first 5 days has thrown me off and I feel like I am in that already failed mentality, yet the reality is the idea behind RED January is to move more as it’s proven to improve our mental health, its meant to be a positive thing but I am allowing it to be a negative, but no more, I am drawing a line & creating a workout schedule which includes all my favourite activities so it feels like fun rather than a chore

I will keep you posted every few months with how I am getting on with my goals, let me know what your thoughts are on resolutions/goal setting, did you set yourself some goals for the year, feel free to share so we can help motivate each other?

Race Recap – City of London Mile

29/07/201630/10/2019 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in Races & Race Reviews

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So better late than never, last month I completed my first City of London Mile

The race is in its third year and I had heard nothing but good things about this event so it had been on my to-do list for some time

One of the great things about this race is its price tag… its free, yep that’s right, it cost nothing, nada, zilch! and included in that oh so perfect price tag are closed roads, friendly marshall’s, some of the best race organisation I have ever seen, oh and a really nice medal

In respect of races the mile seems to be a pretty untapped distance, I only know of one other mile race the Westminster Mile ran the day before the Vitality London 10,000, I guess people wouldn’t necessarily travel far for such a short distance race, nor would they be interested in handing over to much cash, but I do feel that for the excellent job they do a small fee could be charged for this race even if the race continued to be fully sponsored, so that all entry monies could be donated to charity

So how did the actual race go, I would love to say it was easy but I would be lying, all week I had been telling anyone that would listen that I would love to have gone sub 10 minute mile, then Saturday it suddenly dawned on me I had been struggling to achieve 11-11.30 minute miles recently so how on earth did I expect to shave over a minute off that time

So on Sunday morning as I headed to the race I was feeling pretty downbeat, wishing I had kept my mouth shut all week, a sub 10 may have been out of my reach but whatever the result I was determined I would have tried my best

As I have already mentioned the race was perfectly organised I was in wave 8 and at most races that would generally resulted in us starting our race a few minutes late, but not at the City of London Mile, we started bang on 11.10am, the first few minutes was spent the same as any race, weaving in and out, until I found a bit of space on the road and could find my own pace, I took a quick look at my Garmin just as I was passing the half way point at my watch showed bang on 5 minutes, I was happy with how I was running and how I was feeling, before I knew it I was turning a corner again at Bank and was on the final 400m to the finish line along Cheapside, there was a slight incline in the road, I felt like everyone was passing me, my legs were getting tired and usually my brain would be telling me it was ok to stop and walk for a second but I really wanted to run this mile, I could hear a father and daughter that I had passed earlier on, the daughter was struggling but the dad was encouraging her, just a little bit further, now is the time to dig deep to push a bit harder to go a bit faster, I should have listened to the advice myself but I couldn’t help but laugh and think go a bit faster, who are you kidding, just don’t stop more like, and then I was over the finish line, as I turned to stop my Garmin I spotted the time and it was under 10 minutes, I couldn’t believe it, the second half of the race had felt so much slower than the first, I was convinced I was running slower but I had actually been quicker

So proud of us both, I managed a sub 9.30 (less than 30 seconds off my PB when I was in a much fitter/healthier condition) and the husband managed a sub 8.30, not bad for his first run since the London Marathon 2015

One Big Fat Run

27/07/201630/10/2019 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in General

If you are an active user of social media & a runner or wannabe runner, it’s highly likely you have heard of Julie Creffield and her blog The Fat Girls Guide to Running which is the worlds only resource specifically designed for plus size runners, and home to her global Too Fat to Run? campaign, where her mission is to get 1 million overweight women running.

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As part of the Too Fat to Run campaign Julie hosts a monthly FREE to enter virtual 5k race & the next one is being held this Sunday 31st July (you can sign up here), whether you are able to run the whole thing, do a combination or run/walk or even want to use this as a starting point and plan to walk the whole thing, that’s fine, as long as we get up off the couch and move!

As well as offering a free monthly race Julie also offers an online running club, which offers support, advice and accountability, and has written a number of running books that are available on Amazon here, I can highly recommend Getting Past the First 30 Seconds & 5 weeks to 5k a course that she also ran live on ITVs This Morning earlier last year with a group of viewers.

I haven’t been asked to write this blog post I have done it simply because Julie inspires me every day, I am fortunate to live fairly local to Julie so not only can I follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram but I also get to see a friendly face at most of the races I attend, the one above was taken at the Great Newham Run a few weeks ago (Race recap to follow next week, I promise)

Same old, same old

16/06/201630/10/2019 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in Weight Loss

Same-Old-Ideas

As you can probably guess my silence means I have been busy being a big fat failure as per usual.

In the few weeks following the marathon I lost 5.5lbs, one week with 3 big nights out and I had regained 5 of those 5.5lbs and the last two weeks I have just hovered.

I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks tying to work out why I keep sabotaging myself & I think ultimately its because I feel lost, I feel like I have no direction in my life at the moment & I feel like a fraud standing up in front of my Weight Watchers members, when my weight has just gone up & up, I feel like what is the point of me continuing to run when I then go and reward myself with chocolate, when really I would like it to contribute to my weight loss

Chocolate

I know what I want to do, I know how to do it, most of my meals are cooked from scratch, I exercise so it should fall into place right? Wrong, and you know why, because I still have a big big problem with chocolate, even I’m disgusted by the amount of Chocolate I am eating at the moment, but I just don’t know how to break this very addictive habit

Have you ever had a big stumbling block that prevents you from achieving your goals and what did you do to overcome it?

Getting my fit & healthy back

04/05/201630/10/2019 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in Weight Loss

Half of me is ashamed of this photo the other half is proud

The reason why I am partially ashamed is that I know I have regained weight, I thought that training for the marathon would help me lose weight, the reality was even though I knew it was going to make my journey harder the stress of the training the worry that something would go wrong again made me reach for the chocolate comfort blanket

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But then I look at the photo & think I was smiling as I passed the Houses of Parliament at 25 miles I literally skipped around that corner, so proud of what I had achieved & I know that the same determination that wouldn’t let me give up on my London Marathon dream is going to be the same determination that gets me back to goal

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(excuse the dodgy toenails)

Friday morning I stepped back on the scales, I knew I wouldn’t like what I see but I was no longer afraid to face it, I know you have heard me say it so many times but I really feel like I have it this time, I feel like the Marathon was something so overwhelming for me it took all my focus and now that’s over its time to focus on me again.

I will document my journey on here via a weekly roundup post every Saturday, but if you would like to keep a closer eye on me check out my Instagram where I talk all things food, weight loss and fitness

My London Marathon

03/05/201630/10/2019 by ProjectHealthyFitMe, posted in Races & Race Reviews

Over a week has passed and I still do not know how to put the 24th April into words

I suppose the best place to start is September 2013 when I first found out that I had received ballot place into the 2014 London Marathon, excitement, disbelief, shock, I can still remember being at work & staring at the computer thinking WTF?!

I had entered the ballot with a group of friends most of whom had tried for many years to get a place in this world famous race, apparently your chance of being successful in the ballot is less than 15% but guess who got a place…. ME!!!

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Unfortunately in the December of 2013 I found a lump in my left breast, tests in the January showed that it was benign but the lump needed to be removed & I wouldn’t be able to exercise for 8 weeks after surgery, which would mean the marathon possibly being snatched away at the last moment, so after a lot of sleepless nights & tears I decided to defer my place until 2015 & concentrate on being cheer squad for 3 friends that were running the 2014 race

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Fast forward a year and many of you will know the story of my torn calf muscle leaving me in a cast for 3 months, missing out yet again & forfitting my ballot place (if you do not know the story you can read about it here) this left me being cheer squad yet again, this time for my husband and another friend

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I am not sure if I even actually had a London Marathon dream but if I did its safe to say it had turned into a nightmare & in October 2015 when I was offered a charity spot by Diabetes UK I really wasn’t sure whether to take it or not. I had spoken to my physio and while my leg was better it still wasn’t 100% healed & the physios advice was while my leg probably could make the distance, it probably wasn’t the best idea to be considering a marathon so soon

I have always had a habit of only hearing what I want to hear when I speak to Drs, so of course I accepted the place and slowly I started to build up my mileage again, with runs at the Olympic Park, the Fords test track & the Roding Valley Half Marathon

Early February the niggling pains in my left calf started to feel a little worse & I was scared that with the increased mileage I might get injured again so I paid for a private scan, the results were erm, neutral, while my leg hadn’t got any worse since the November it hadn’t got any better which I was told under normal circumstances wouldn’t be good news, but considering I was 3 months into marathon training the fact that it hadn’t deteriorated further could be considered a positive.

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Following a discussion with my physio it was suggested that I amend my training plan so that I was no longer doing a long run every weekend, as you can imagine that didn’t go down very well with me, I wanted to give my London Marathon training my all, I had races booked as part of my training, completing all your training is part of what makes you a marathoner

Looking at it now it was probably fortunate that fate intervened at the end of February with a viral infection that knocked me out for over 6 weeks preventing me from doing any running at all, at the start of April I was struggling to walk a mile let alone run 26 of them but 2 courses of antibiotics, a course of 6 B12 injections & another trip to the hospital for another breast lump (luckily it was just a cyst) 3 weeks before the race you would think someone was trying to tell me that the London Marathon & I were not meant to be

But the marathon had become my dream, I had been training for it for 3 years, I was in the worst condition of any of the 3 attempts to get to that start line I was 2st over weight and massively under trained but there was a medal with my name on it & I wanted it, I wanted it so bad.

The lead up week to the marathon I expected to be a bag of nerves, there was emails from the race organisers, emails from the charity, txts from my friend that was running re going to the expo and getting to the race & well wishes from friends and family I had made a conscience decision to try & not get stressed about the run up to the event & it worked, I took each day as it come, entering the expo & hearing the music that accompanies the BBCs coverage of the race was the first sign of me cracking, as I walked to collect my number the tears started, I was actually going to do this, 2016 the London Marathon was going to be mine!

After the expo we headed into London for some carb loading, we decided to head to Tower Hill in the hope of seeing the route being prepared and we wasn’t disappointed, the restaurant went to was right beside the 23 mile marker, Saturday was mainly spent eating, relaxing, eating, preparing my kit, before heading out for yet more food & the cinema with friends

I hadn’t expected to sleep Saturday night, I thought nerves would get the better of me but I slept like a baby, my alarm was set for 6.45am, porridge eaten, peanut butter on toast & a banana to eat on the train were prepared & we were off

Again I had expected the nerves to really kick in once we hit Greenwich Park, but we had timed our arrival to perfection, arriving just in time to pop to the loo (we nipped into a hotel on the way to the park they had generously opened up a few rooms for people to use) dropped our bags at the baggage lorries & headed to our pen

The week of the race weather forecasters had predicted snow, so Jemma and I had taken tops that could be dumped if we got to hot and disposable plastic rain macs to keep us warm at the the start, however when we arrived in the start pen it was warm, with lovely blue skies. More or less as soon as we arrived we heard the start gun over the tannoy, we were in the very back oh the final pen so there was plenty of time for us to get ourselves and our music ready, there were a few moments where I felt the tears start, in fact we approached the start line with me tearful hugging Jemma and telling her I loved her & thanking her for always being there for me & then we were off, we were together for around the first half mile and then split up as had always been our plan

The route surprised me, I expected it to feel a little claustrophobic, even when the 3 starts merged around the 5k mark I had more space to run than I had imagined, the first few miles were quite residential & well supported with people cheering us on, the first time I expected to see someone was around the 10k mark so just before the Cutty Sark, unfortunately I missed Julie an old work collegue there, again hearing from friends that had run before that missing friends and family can really mess with your head, I tried not to think about it as I knew missing Jason at Surrey Quays really might upset me, luckily before I knew it I was at the Cutty Sark, so that gave me something else to think about, enjoy the race take in the sights & soak up the cheers

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(look both feet off the ground.. well almost)

I have gone along to Surrey Quays for so many years as a spectator it was weird being there as a runner, over the years it has gone from being a quiet part of the course as far as spectators are concerned to a busy spot (actually the whole route was pretty busy) but luckily I spotted Jason straight away and headed over and stopped for quick hug and kiss

The viral infection I had suffered during March and my low B12 levels were already starting to show, I had hoped to get to around the 16 mile mark before the fatigue or any niggles kicked in but they hit me much earlier than I expected, luckily I had come prepared, dextrose, jelly babies, shot blocks and gels, I had enough fuel for 2 or 3 runners but it looked like I was going to need it all myself

At mile 10 a surprise and very welcome hug from Julie of Too Fat to Run fame (If you haven’t heard of Julie go & check out her page to find out more about her fantastic campaign to get more people running)

Just after seeing Julie I stopped for a quick Paula ie a pee behind bush (the loo queues are ridiculous) & as I started to run again I felt a pinching in my right butt cheek, I tried to run it off but it was surprisingly painful, Mile 11 Jason popped up again, check out my Instagram to see a video clip of me running over for another hug & a kiss, just after seeing him I came across a few TEAMDUK runners so I ran with them to the approach to Tower Bridge where we hit out first Diabetes UK cheer station

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When you hear about people running the London Marathon Tower Bridge is normally one of their favourite points & usually I love running over the bridge but this time it was just to crowded & I couldn’t wait to get off the bridge, I had friends around the 13 mile marker so I wasn’t sure if they would be on the bridge or just after but there were just to many people, I was actually glad when I got to the 14 miles and I could stop looking for them and just start focusing on running again

Going along the Highway I expected seeing the faster runners on the other side of the road to be a hard point but something weird had happened, usually when I run my brain is constantly doing maths, I have done a 1/4 of the race a 1/3 of the race, half of the race but this time I didn’t care I remember thinking at the 14 mile point that I still have to do almost half the race again but rather than fear there was acceptance, Mile 15 & Julie who I had missed at the 10k mark popped up so another welcome hug received there, hugs from your friends and family really do seem to give you a boost & recharge your batteries

Mile 16 was the first time that I had slipped below my 5.30 marathon pace, I was 30 seconds slower than I should have been at that point, but again rather than panic or get upset as I knew it was only likely to get worse I just felt, I have ran 16 miles, I have felt shattered for the last 8, had a sharp pain in my butt for the last 6 but I have kept moving forward, so I couldn’t be disappointed

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I decided at mile 16 to try and eat half an energy bar, OMG I literally spent a mile trying to chew something that would normally only be a few mouthfuls, this saw me hitting mile 17 4 minutes behind schedule & was where I stopped thinking about my time, the next few miles saw us hitting Canary Wharf, I loved running around here and the miles seemed to pass quickly, before I knew it we were at the 20 mile marker and honestly if I had had to have stopped there, I would have stopped happy & satisfied with what I had accomplished, I remember running through mile 20 passing a pub with Jamiroquai Space Cowboy playing and stopping for a few seconds to have some water a few jelly beans and a bit of a dance with a stranger

Mile 21 I had been something I had been looking forward to, the support of Cheer Dem is well known at London races, not only do they cheer on members of their own running community Run Dem Crew but they also support all other runners, there is a stretch of road that they decorate with giant heads representing members of their crew that are running that day, I had banked on some virtual cheers here to recharge my batteries but while there were still people out, it wasn’t the powerful noise I had experienced at other races & that was the one & only part of the course that I come away from feeling flat

(I didn’t take any photos on the course so I thought I would share my marathon nails)

Mile 21 – 23 were probably the dullest of the route, I had started to feel a little sick (to much sugar) & I couldn’t wait to get onto the home stretch, getting to mile 23 felt like coming home, I have walked and run along the embankment more times than I can remember, I just had that tunnel at Blackfriars to deal with and then we were on the home straight

Just after Mile 24 Jason appeared again, along with about half a dozen friends, quick hugs all round before moving on, it was hard to motivate yourself to run along this stretch as most people were walking so I made a deal with myself run 2 lamposts walk 1, & very quickly I was at Westminster just as Big Ben struck 4pm.

I knew the Diabetes UK team had a cheer squad here so I literally went around the corner skipping and whopping much to their delight, having the whole team erupt into cheers and shouting my name gave me the boost to get me along to Birdcage Walk, again this became a run walk as I wanted to preserve energy to run along The Mall, with 385 meters to go I reached for my phone to try & film my last few steps, its weird how your legs suddenly have the energy to keep moving when the finish line is in sight, all to quickly I had crossed the finish line, it seems strange to say all to quickly when you have been running for over 5.5hrs but thats honestly how I felt, it didn’t feel like it had taken that long, the wall that people had spoken about had never hit (actually it did about 8,30pm in the pub but thats another story)

I had done it, I had completed the London Marathon & had the medal to prove it, only one thing to do, hit the pub for dinner and drinks with friends

Would I do another marathon, I am not sure, I would love the opportunity to try the distance again, but with a marathon you pin all your hopes and dreams onto one day & there are so many things that are out of your control that can go wrong & I am not sure I want to put myself through the emotional aspect of marathon training again, its not like a 10k where if you need to cancel there will probably be another race locally the following weekend, that said the lure of the ballot caught me, so I guess I am leaving whether I will run the London Marathon again in the hands of fate

Have you ever taken part in the London Marathon, what was your experience? or has reading this inspired you to apply for a ballot place? Entries to the 2017 ballot are now open, you can click here to apply… Good Luck!!