Smudge’s Story
I ALWAYS wanted to run a marathon. As a child, after watching thousands of people run the London course on TV, I thought it looked quite fun, so along with living in a castle and owning a pet dragon, running for an extended period of time became part of the things I imagined doing as an adult.
We are now thirteen weeks away from the marathon and I am about to step up my training.
Fast forward fifteen years and I’m not quite as healthy as my eight-year-old self had imagined. I drink a fair bit, indulge in far too many takeaways and don’t exercise as much as I should.
This coupled with a nasty cigarette habit and a lack of will power means over the last couple of years, running a marathon has no longer been near the top of my list of ambitions.
That was until I heard the Manchester Marathon was returning after a ten-year break. For some reason, when I found this out all of those old ambitions returned and I decided to sign up. I’m running for the Five Stars Appeal - a local charity raising money for sick children.
Follow Sam's marathon training on Body Confidential
Finding a marathon around the city I love has made me realise I’d rather run it while I’m still young, as opposed to being a mid-life crisis runner who spends their fifties trying to achieve their old goals now that their marriage has failed.
We are now thirteen weeks away from the marathon and I am about to step up my training. Luckily I have the build of a long distance runner and already play football two or three times a week, so I’m not starting completely from scratch.
At the minute I’m running 3 - 4 miles, twice a week, playing football a couple of times and then having a longer jog/walk every Sunday.
Every week from here on in my training diary will be available on Body Confidential and you can sponsor my run for The Five Stars Appeal here. I will be training using the beginners training plan available on the Manchester Marathon website.
Rakhi’s Story
I’m on the cusp of turning 30 so thought it would be a good time to conquer a marathon before my legs fail me, my back gives in, and I have to use a pill container to organise my many medications.
I've calculated the number of miles I’ll cover if I follow the training plan religiously, and I could make it further than Paris.
I did the Liverpool half marathon six years ago and wanted to try a full one, so signed up to the Seoul Marathon in 2008 (I was living there at the time).
However, as it was just after Christmas and New Year festivities, the only way I would have made it around the course was if Haile Gebrselassie was on hand to give me a piggy back.
After I heard that the marathon was returning to Manchester for the first time in ten years, it was the perfect time to sign up. A few mates are doing the run as well so I’ve made a wager with them. I’m also going to raise money for charity, but I’m not sure which one yet. Combined with this online diary it means that there’s no backing out this time.
Follow Rakhi's marathon training on Body Confidential
Like others feeling the guilt of excessive festive gluttony and debauchery, January began with determination. I’ve already got a couple of ten-mile runs under my belt and have been doing plenty of shorter (six mile) runs.
I’m ambitiously following the intermediate training plan on the Manchester Marathon website, which includes ‘fartlek,’ (snigger) a type of Swedish interval training where you run really fast for a few minutes then walk, repeat, pass out. It’s a killer but good for building up fitness.
I’ve still got a long way to go. I've calculated the number of miles I’ll cover if I follow the training plan religiously, and I could make it further than Paris. Let’s see if I can keep up the momentum.
Follow my training here on Body Confidential and @rakhi_sinha.
