They say the pain is only temporary, the glory lasts forever...

I hope this is true, this morning I'm feeling pretty sore despite the token stretching and ice bath. 

To what you all really want to hear...

Yesterday on a gloriously sunny day I completed the 33rd London Marathon and my second, in a record time of 03:46:03. This time means I am officially classified as "Good for Age" which I find hilarious after the significant birthday 3 weeks ago! 

A massive thanks to my support team of friends and family on the day and all my sponsors.

Lots of love 

Adel x

 

 

Final Update - One Week to go, ahhh! 

This time next week fingers crossed I will have completed the marathon! Some final totals, over my 16 week training plan and a few pre-training training weeks I have ran roughly 350 miles, completed 13 circuits of the gym and swam a few miles of the gym pool!

The official spectator plan is written (spectating is a serious affair) and on Wednesday I will collect my number, 42661, sounds lucky right? If you cant be there on the day, track my progress live on the marathon website. http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com

April 2013 Update - Three Weeks to go! 

Three weeks to the big day, one long run left and then the taper begins, I'm very glad of this as the long runs have been taking there tol and I am shattered! The final race instructions have arrived and registration to get my number, eek! 

Last weekend I acheived a life long ambition/pre-30 challenge to complete the16 mile Kingston Breakfast Run. As the name suggests this run starts bl**dy early in the morning and is round the river at Kingston near my Sister's place. I got round in super quick time of 2:09mins, motivated to get round as quick as poss by the snow, acheiving 10th place in my age catagory (25-29!) and beating 87% of all women! but just short of 2hrs and being a 'fast woman'. Oh well I got a free mug for my troubles! 

Feb 2013 Update – MenB Vaccine licensed by the European Commission.

A massive step forward has been made in the production of a vaccine for MenB since I wrote my page in Jan 2013. The MenB vaccine has been licensed by the European Commission, this is the first big step towards this vaccine being available in the UK. It can now be sold as a product and it can be considered by governments in the UK and Ireland for inclusion in immunisation programmes. This all takes time (and funds), so even once a vaccine is licensed it could be months or even years before it is introduced. The MRF hope that a decision will be made in 2013 to introduce the vaccine quickly. So please support my marathon effort and help me to get all those teenagers jabbed with the MenB vaccine ASAP!

 

 

 

 

Training wise, I am now in week 6 of the 16 week “Official Training Plan”, so far I have ran up to 14.5miles in distance in my long runs with a typical week of training being composed of three runs – hills, speed and a long run, one gym strength circuit (I can now do ten man press ups in a row!) and the occasional bonus gym/swim session a week.  Next sat on 16 February I am running a half marathon hopefully for a sub 1:45 time, so fingers crossed!  

 

 

 

 

Jan 2013 - The Official Training Starts. 

 

So your probably thinking, she’s at it again, what is she thinking?! Was London 2011 not enough to put her off for life? Clearly not, the toenails have grown back and the winter training is a distant memory.

So what inspired this decision?.....

Like most amateur sporting endeavors the idea started after one too many cakes. During meningitis awareness week in September we held a bake off competition at work … shortly after consuming a few cakes I cheekily emailed the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) saying good news I’ve raised lots of money for you….got a spare marathon place?

Of course the answer was yes, my response to this news was brilliant! Ready the ‘Go Adel’ banner family! Then the fear set in, luckily I had my own marathon vet coach Brother In Law on hand to help me write my training plan.

As I write this I am working my way through the “Pre-Training Training Phase” of my marathon plan, 6 weeks of “stop being a slacker going to the nice warm gym and get out in the freezing cold and run phase” (8miles ran today). On the 31 December the “Official 16 week Training Plan” commences which will see me build up to 20 miles by week 13 before tapering to recover for the day.

My personal goal for the London Marathon 2013 is to get round in under 4 hours! Eek! .. and retain all my toenails. As usual I’d also be very happy to beat a few z list celebrities (Lorraine Kelly watch out!), Darth Vader and bottles of London Pride (not that I am competitive honest).

Enough of the chit chat, down to the seriousness……..

As most of you will be aware, the MRF is a charity very close to my heart. In 2001 my close friend Jen died from Meningitis and I continue to be shocked by the amount of people who I meet who have had the disease or know someone who has. I’d like to make this a thing of the past.

On my sponsorship page in 2011 I wrote “ten years on there is still no vaccine for the B strain”. I’m glad to be able to write in December 2012 the MRF is getting closer. A trial vaccine has been produced and the first stage of licensing for use has gone well with a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency.

But there’s still a lot of work to do to get this approved in the UK and vaccination programs established, of course this all costs money. So this is the real reason I’m subjecting to myself to winter training and 26.2 miles of pain on 21 April 2013!  

So please cheer me on and dig deep.

Every mile in loving memory of Jennie Warr.

Lots of love

Adel 

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