Regular readers of this page will know that I’m training to run the TCS London Marathon. I’ve been pounding the pavements relentlessly, attempting to fit my training runs around my (already busy, already stressful) life. Suffice to say, it hasn’t been easy. With two marathons under my running belt already –both in my twenties –Iknow all too well how vital recovery is. Only this time, you won’t be catching me napping on the sofa after my long Sunday morning run, but ironing school uniforms and doing the weekly food shop.
Come Monday, there’s precious little time for life admin, let alone training. By 7.10am, I’m shooing my 11-year-old son out the door to catch his school bus. By 7.40am, I’m dressed and on my way to drop my daughter at breakfast club, before catching atrain to London for along day in the office running two brands (I’m also editor-in-chief of our sister title, Men’s Health). Evenings are reliably spent making sure homework is done, school bags are packed and the washing machine is well fed.
Amid all of this, I’ve been trying to snatch some moments to train. I’m lucky enough to have atreadmill at home, so early morning tempo runs have been my go-to. But it’s been ajuggle. My muscles are never not sore, an ongoing achilles issue means I’m often in too much pain to walk and I feel permanently exhausted –a state I shared with my running coach (a perk-of-the-job privilege without which I’d be lost) earlier this week.
To my relief, Anthony Fletcher – co-founder of Onetrack, amembers’ club for runners –had heard it all before. ‘It’s not an age thing. It’s alife stage thing,’ he told me. ‘Training for amarathon when you have very few other responsibilities and therefore can recover properly, crucially get enough good quality sleep and not have too much other stress going on, is ve
