Blowing my own trumpet

Run to the Barrier

for the obligatory selfie

04.12.2015
Day 265

An eight-mile, occasionally marathon-paced long run, our leader picks up the pace, as his target is a sub-3:30 marathon. It's a bit too fast for me, who'd be happy with a sub 3:50

There's a lot to do on the coaching front. Today I wrote my profile for the Buggy Runners website. It may be a bit too wordy:

My eight-year love affair with running started with a revelatory Race for Life and grows ever stronger. I am so besotted that my husband accuses me of loving running more than him.

Running has given me such joy over the years that I decided I wanted to spread the love, so trained with UK Athletics to become a coaching assistant and a leader in running fitness, which means I’m qualified to lead my own group of runners.

Joining the inspirational Ellie Brown Buggy Runner Initiative means I can combine my two loves: fitness and babies. Having raised three children, and with my first grandchild due in April, I am confident around babies and am also very aware of the demands pregnancy and breastfeeding makes on the body. It’s all about baby steps! It’s wonderful, though, to see how quickly women can train to peak fitness after having children. Many say they feel faster and fitter having had children – and Paula Radcliffe and Jo Pavey are living, running proof of this.

At my Buggy Runner classes in Southwark, Dulwich and Greenwich parks, you can expect  a combination of aerobic exercise, from dynamic stretches through powerwalking to jogging to steady-state running, as well as strength training using your own body weight and resistance bands. Such tailor-made exercises can help you regain your fitness while your baby snoozes and enjoys the fresh air.