Month: December 2015

2015 – a wrap up

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Everyone seems to be doing a wrap up of what took place this year…so thought I would follow suit, especially seeing as we are nearing These Girls Do’s first birthday!

It’s been a great journey so far – met some awesome people, taken part in some awesome activities and I don’t think we ever appreciated that people would actually enjoy reading what we wrote…

So without further ado, here are a few highlights!

January. 

Tackled dry January for the third year under much duress from everyone else for being boring. Did not give in. Decided to write a blog whilst Kate was a few drinks down and I was not. Held her accountable. Struggled for blog name. Launch of This Girl Can. Found name for blog! Kicked things off with some thoughts around women’s sport not being that exciting, heavily prompted by some interactions with a fairly high profile rugby coach who thought that as girls, we wouldn’t be interested in rugby, despite attending a talk specifically on rugby. Followed by a similar view on women’s cycling, including pink clothes, fixing punctures and overtaking men. Kate attracted some attention chatting about the use of plus size models. 

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Picking the right marathon plan for you

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As I am sure many of you will have noticed, it is now December. That is bad enough. Which means January isn’t that far away…which therefore means…MARATHON TRAINING! (Or not for the sensible ones around)

I haven’t yet found myself a training plan. I’m toying between a few options, including dropping down to three runs a week (Furman/FIRST style), following a bog standard inter/advanced plan or getting some coaching advice.

I thought I would cover some of the basics of picking a training plan, as well as some considerations to make when putting it into practice. For some of you it might be your first marathon, or your fifth. But no matter what your experience levels, or your goals, you need to have some form of a rough plan and know how to tailor it for you – you are the one running, not your mum/friend/partner/colleague – so put yourself first.

I have learnt the hard way that sometimes, more miles aren’t necessarily better. The challenge personally for me is finding a plan that will get me around the 3.20-3.25 mark (there we go, I’ve written it down so it must be a real goal!) but without having to run 6 days a week because my body does not like that.

Disclaimer: I’m not a running professional and therefore I am not going to tell you exactly how you should pick a marathon training plan, nor should you heed my advice to the letter. 

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