Day T + 195

The training is still pretty much halted, apart from some brisk walking here and there. Still a lot of sneezing and coughing, so I'm not making the same mistake twice. I'm hoping I will wake up tomorrow feeling ready to run, or at least walk briskly, to work.

Met a friend of my brother's yesterday for lunch to get some tips as he ran the Marathon last year. He reassured me the mileage I would be clocking up would be okay and pointed out some good websites. Turns out he may be running the Marathon this year as well - he has a place but is yet undecided on whether to run it. Last year he went from not running at all in October 2008 to running the Marathon in April 2009. So knowing I've already done a 5k and a 10k, whereas he struggled to keep running for 20 minutes to begin with, makes me feel a lot better about my chances! It was nice to meet a 'regular' person and just get his perspective on training and completing.

I also texted my personal trainer from my first bout of running, my 5k (which seems rather paltry now but was an achievement at the time), Uju Eze. She is a seasoned runner and regularly clocks up long runs. She's done many marathons, the London Marathon she's done four times itself! Her next marathon is Brighton so she won't be able to run with me but as part of my training we're going to run a half-marathon together. When I say together she'll obviously be faster, unless she decided to hang back to watch how I run. When I first saw Uju she told me I underestimated myself and my running ability. When I managed to run 10k in a hilly Edinburgh in a good time and with no training I realised she was right. Who knows, maybe I'm even a natural born runner?! Remembering my reluctant beginning to running she is as excited as me about the journey ahead. I'll be meeting her in early November to nail down a training plan to include resistance training and also a nutritional plan. To prepare I'm going to keep a food diary and also dig out my Kettlebells DVD. Uju had a colleague who did Kettlebell training and I did a session with her just to learn the ropes in terms of technique, as I purchased a women's set. Sadly they are poorly used and mostly gathering dust. Uju's colleague has now relocated to Spain but Uju is going on a training course this weekend for Kettlebells so hopefully we'll be able to incorporate it into my training.

I'm very excited about getting some professional help with my goal and I Uju was so good for my training for my 5k. I mentioned how 'nice' she was to my brother's friend and he said "Yeah sure, if you pay someone I'm sure they'll be nice...". But actually that is not my experience of gym trainers - Uju and I both know a very horrid one who use to work at the Fitness First in Chalk Farm. In a bizzare twist of fate, I complained and so had a second induction with Uju only to then meet her a year or so later through an unrelated PT company. Uju and I both left that gym because we didn't like it! I am sure that the other woman was probably a good trainer for some people, though I found her rude, demotivating and unhelpful. Everyone is different and so needs a different type of PT and part of it is just down to an elusive 'chemistry'. Uju is good at her job, knows her stuff and knows exactly how to get me working. I remember the week before my 5k we had a session and Uju suggested Regent's Park to get a lie of the land I'd be running. I readily agreed, only to get there and find Uju ready to follow me on her bike as I ran around the park, i.e. ran 5k! Uju knew not to tell me before - as I'd have chickened out - and run it I did, all the way without stopping. Once we were done I knew I could do it - which was what Uju wanted to prove to me before the big day. So I know she'll get me as ready as I can be for the London Marathon 2010. Besides as well as all her expertise; sometimes just knowing someone is going to ask, "So how many miles did you run this week?" and "What did you eat for dinner?" is all you need to wake up each morning to run and decide against those chips.