Eat For You Dietitian

London and Edinburgh races in 2 weeks

Hackney Half Marathon (2.06) and Edinburgh Marathon (4.45) ✅✅ You would think I’m done now but it’s all in preparation for my first 50km Ultra marathon as part of the Race to the Stones weekend. Why did I sign up? 2 girls, 1 passion = Twice The Health inspiration who are undertaking the full 100km non-stop. So technically I’m taking the easier option but will still definitely be a challenge going beyond that marathon distance.

Another reason I signed up for my first ultra-marathon is because at the beginning of the year I set myself the goal to run a sub 2 half marathon (which I achieved on a training run) and a sub 4 marathon. Following a couple injuries and illnesses that have derailed my speed training I soon decided to focus on distance and not time. Yesterday I went to Urgent Care Centre as it turned out I ran Edinburgh Marathon with an infected big toe which had to be drained and when I told the nurse it grew bigger after I ran a marathon. She asked me what my time was (I hate that question) and then she said ‘Oh you were going slow then.’ It was late and I wasn’t in the mood to discuss if she had run a marathon before but the fact that she belittled my achievement was astounding.

Anyways Hackney Half was a spur of the moment last minute bib which I am happy I did. Amazing atmosphere, no idea where I was running but overall a flat route. Despite being a Londoner I’ve never really ventured towards Hackney very much so it was an exploration run for me too. Highly recommended and the race village is great too. Not that great signposted though to baggage drop off. It was topped off by mobility flow sessions near by run by Fiit outside their headquarters. The cherry on top for me.

Edinburgh marathon was the race I was originally planning to run a sub 4 time but as already explained this was off the table. Imagine waking up to pouring rain before you have to head to work, the dread that you feel that you have to leave your bed to travel to your work which is likely to be inside so really you don’t have long in the rain depending on your commute. Now imagine you wake up to pouring rain and you know you will be outside for at least 4 hours straight. Luckily it was already raining the day before so I bought a poncho. Rain carries on to the start line so I kept my poncho on until I felt comfortable it wasn’t going to pour down again. The route was along the beautiful coast of Edinburgh which made it difficult for my friends to cheer me along the way as transport links that way are difficult. During the run the weather kept us on our toes, we had beautiful sunshine (my tan lines are proof) followed by strong winds pushing against us. It definitely warmed up a lot as I found I had to refill by 300mls water bottle I carried 4 times at the water stations. Usually I can manage 300mls over 13.1miles but I knew I had to hydrate and when you see people passed out on the side it reminds you to not ignore that very crucial factor, I later found out that in the strong gusts it was over 30mph winds It was 26.2miles full of emotions and an aching big toe for me, which I later realised was infected and I’m grounded from running for at least a week.

I was disappointed as I had to go from run – walk- run for the last 10km and I probably would’ve achieved a PB had I managed to run for longer rather than walk. I soon got over this disappointment as I was congratulated by many and seeing my friends at the finish line pushed me to sprint (as much as you can after running 42km/26.2miles) to the end. As I write this blog post the disappointment is coming back to me in waves as last night I had to go to Urgent Care as my infected big toe was growing with fluid (likely too much information here). As I spoke to the nurse who was triaging I told her the above story in summary and then she asks ‘How long did it take you to run the marathon?’ I don’t mind answering this question but it does bother me sometimes as we always like to quantify things. For example, weight, calories, grams of carbohydrates, protein, mile/km splits of our runs and we can often ignore that we actually feel good when running and the time is irrelevant. Anyways, I told her and then she says ‘Oh so you went slow then.’ It was late, I was tired and I couldn’t actually believe what she had responded with. I think she asked a couple other questions but I stood with a blank face and then she sent me back to the waiting area. Also, can I point out she triaged my infected big toe without looking at it. Luckily the nurse who actually treated me was lovely and laughed when I asked her when I can start running again.

Have you ever had anyone disintegrate your achievement in one sentence? 

This has happened to me many times and I don’t plan to say who from but I have grown to learn that by reflecting on these negative comments again and again will only make things worse. They are irrelevant. My only regret on this occasion is to not actually clarify whether the nurse herself had run a marathon. I don’t think anyone who has run a marathon in whatever time, whether they were professional or a run/walker would’ve said such as comment.

Looking forward this stupid big toe has to heal so I can get back to running the long distances in prep for 50km. In the meantime I have power yoga, resistance bands and cycling workouts to enhance.