From Babies to Marathon

HopeLyndseyPlumb .
Apr 27, 2015
7 min read

The day after my very first marathon seems like the perfect time to start a blog. Be warned, it’s long, turns out I’ve got lots to say. So here goes…

Sunday April 26th 2015 is the day that I achieved what I had previously thought impossible for an ordinary girl like me.

Two years ago, almost to the day, I started my fitness journey. My eldest kiddies were 2 and a bit and my youngest was 4 months old. I felt like I’d been pregnant for two years none stop & during those pregnancies I didn’t exercise, I didn’t eat particularly well, I was just trying to get through each day. I don’t do pregnancies very well, I don’t ever glow, I sweat, get fat, swell to ridiculous proportions and moan!!

When I began to exercise I didn’t set any weight or clothes size goals, I just wanted to be happier in my own skin than I currently was. I began with Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. JM’s 30DS is the perfect starter workout when you’ve been out of the fitness game for a while. It hurts enough so that you know something good is happening to your body but not so much that you don’t wanna go back to continue the next day. 30mins every day for 30 days as soon as my kids were in bed, on went the workout clothes, out came the weights, closed went the curtains & I pressed play. I was eating sensibly for 6 days & having a cheat day on a Sunday. I slowly, gradually began to lose baby weight & started to tone up.

Shortly after finishing this my beautiful friend Esther came to stay with us for a few days. We decided we’d go out for a 5km jog. How hard could it be? Sure, I hadn’t run in over 2 years but I’d just finished the Shred, I’d exercised for 30days in a row, I was toned (relatively, compared to were i began), I was feeling kick ass, I was finally fit!!!!? Pride comes before a fall. Esther Grace had to practically push me up the “hill” (not a hill at all, a very slight slope) all the time yelling/encouraging me “you can do this, let’s go a little faster, just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other” . I thought my womb was going to fall out. I had very odd pains low down in that general area – but I needed to remember that I did have a c section and then 16months later I pushed one out of the main exit. I hated that run, I hated Esther Grace a little bit for not breaking a sweat, looking like a cross between a Victoria Secrets Angel & a Sports Illustrated model & for pushing me & I vowed silently to never run again. When June began I started Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30 – the same formula as 30DS only satisfactorily (not unattainably) harder. Again, i saw more results that made me want to continue.

I worked my way through many JM DVDs, moved onto Bob Harper & then around about my 33rd birthday in November, I decided that I wanted to have a go at what i considered to be the ultimate at home workout – Shaun T's INSANITY *cue scary, dramatic music*.

I’m not gonna lie, it hurts & you will swear at the tv & the workouts are often longer than 30mins but again, it 100% does what it says on the tin. If you want something bad enough, you’ll put up with the pain. Shaun T is a master of destruction, instruction & encouragement all in one toffee coloured, muscle clad package. I changed my routine & decided to workout in the mornings before the family awoke. (It’s really not that much of a big deal, just make sure that you go to bed earlier!!!)

In the interest of your boredom & time, I’m gonna skip through the next part… Suffice to say, I LOVED Insanity & had never felt so confident with my size, weight & shape. Whenever I went out for a jog I felt stronger than ever. I recommend interspersing your running with strength & interval training workouts.

In April 2014 (hmmm April seems to be a significant bookmark for me each year) I qualified as an actual Insanity Instructor. It was around this same time that I met a distant Aunty who mentioned that she had run a couple of marathons, I had downed a few “sherbets”, was feeling confident & said “ooh I’d love to run a marathon one day“. Fast forward a good few months & i get a phonecall saying that I had a place in the Virgin London Marathon 2015, running for the charity Elizabeth Finn/Turn2Us. Oh ****. I barely remembered having the conversation about it & I certainly didn’t think that I had been taken quite so literally. Don’t we all say things that we don’t really mean to distant relatives that you only see at rare family parties?

Now, all of a sudden, I had the ultimate goal ahead of me, one that I couldn’t back out of because a charity were relying on me. I better start running. I’m now calling it running no longer jogging. It was wintertime. Who starts running in winter??? I started a marathon training program in the week between Christmas & New Year. It was cold, dark & & icy but those few minutes of isolation, just me being free to go wherever my feet were strong enough to take me, were so precious to me. I would creep out of bed, downstairs using my phone as a torch, don my wooly hat, gloves, scarves, MANY layers & off into the dark mornings i went. I ran 5kms, then pushed to an 8km & then a 10km. I hung around that distance for a very long time & then I switched to miles. Somewhere amongst this, my Aunty dropped out of the marathon, so now I was truly on my own…

Hear me when I say this, this next bit is important! I am definitely no superhero. There were days when I didn’t want to get out in the cold & the rain/sleet/black ice! (I once dislocated my elbow slipping on ice & I’m not in a hurry to do it again), but I did it because I told myself that this was a goal I was going to get. There were days when I didn’t want get out in the cold & the rain/sleet etc so I didn’t, I just stayed in bed & proceeded to feel guilty all day. There were 2 weeks when I didn’t do any form of exercise. A dear, dear friend of ours passed away suddenly. And I'm ashamed to say that I used the following weeks to wallow, eat processed foods & smoke cigarettes! Throughout that time I always had this creeping realisation that when I did get back on it, I’d have to work much harder than ever before. Laziness comes at a price, if not immediately then it will bite you in the bum later.

Then things that I couldn’t control (general life) happened… I got tonsillitis & couldn’t get out to run (I missed another 2 weeks). Then *cue more dramatic music* 2 weeks before the marathon, I caught bronchitis. Technically, sensibly – I should have pulled out. Anyone who was less bloody minded than me, would’ve pulled out – but there was ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKIN WAY that I was gonna let my training go to nothing.

I have written a (virtual step by step) race day blog to recount how the actual Marathon Day went but for now, know that I did it. I got round. I walked when I should’ve been running, I had to have several long looks at myself when I was passed by a two man camel & several rhinos. I LOVED it. I laughed, I ate more sweets than I have in years, I cried (several times, tears of joy of general overwhelmingness (I like to create words), I couldn’t understand why anyone would do this more than once, I LOVED it. I couldn’t breath & thought I might keel over, but did I mention that I LOVED it? And now I want to do it all over again…

This post is far too long & if you’ve made it this far through then YOU deserve a medal! I conclude by saying this…

Along the way I have had people say “how do you manage to train when you’ve got 3 small children? I could never do it! I can barely run down the road. I don’t have the time…” etc etc

I'm afraid that these are not valid excuses, that is the way life is – for ALL of us. If you want something badly enough then just do it. You will never know what you are capable of, unless you try. Most of this physical stuff is mind over matter – you have to clear space in your head & don’t talk yourself out of things. An actual marathon doesn't need to be your goal, it can be to run 5km or to swim a certain distance. Whatever your "marathon" is remember this:

*Run 5 steps, walk 3 steps & repeat (metaphorically & literally)

(There is guy on twitter called Dean Barnes, he who also ran his first marathon yesterday – he went from couch to marathon in 4 months. Dean ran it in 7 hours something, how’s that for determination?)

*Start small

*Set achievable goals that fit in with your lifestyle

*Try

*Push yourself a little bit harder each time

*If you fall down, drop out, have 2 months off, whatever, always get back to it

*Don't compare your journey to anyone else's

Life is too short for the “I wonder what ifs…” Gather a cheer squad around you, friends & family that tell you that you CAN and that you SHOULD. Unfollow/don’t reply to/drown out the sounds of the Negative Nancy’s & Debbie Downers. Drown out the negative noise & push your way through. If I can do it, then truly ANYONE can.