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Rachel Miller
261 Plays5 months ago
In this episode Michelle chats with Rachel Miller. Rachel has been running since she was 17 and has just finished London Marathon in memory of her Dad, who started running in his fifties. He inspired the whole family to become runners.
Follow Rachel on Instagram
And on X: @RachelBuk
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Transcript
Introduction to Rachel Miller
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, Rachel. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the UK Run Chat podcast. Would you like to just give our listeners a brief introduction to yourself for those who haven't seen you on or you've hosted a few UK Run Chat hours for us, haven't you? But just tell our listeners about yourself. Yes, thank you. Well, thank you very much for having me, actually. Yeah, so I'm Rachel Miller. I live in Norfolk and I've been a runner since I was about
00:00:29
Speaker
17 years old. So yeah, member of Norwich Roadrunners, swimmer and triathlete as well. Yeah, I like to get involved. I've hosted some of the Sunday UK Run chat hours, which is always good fun. It's always absolutely
00:00:45
Speaker
frenetic and mad but it's so it's so good you actually feel like you want to go out for a run after hosting one because it's just it really puts your kind of adrenaline levels up because you just replied to so and it's just so nice it's such a good way to meet people and just talk about running for an hour which is all we really want to do. Yeah yeah we could talk for a lot longer than an hour I suspect as well couldn't we? Definitely yeah I could.
00:01:10
Speaker
Yes. So
Early Inspiration and Family Influence
00:01:11
Speaker
tell us a bit about how you got into winning men. So 17 you were. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm I ran at school. I did cross country at school.
00:01:20
Speaker
And I loved it. So, you know, you hear a lot of people who say they did cross country at school and they hated it, or, you know, three people that are non-runners are hated doing it. I loved it, always loved it. So I always did that. And me and my sister were swimmers as well. We swam from Norwich Swans, so we swam competitively. So we were, you know, and I'd done gymnastics and dance as well. So my parents had kept us quite active when we were younger anyway.
00:01:47
Speaker
And then one day, it was mid 80s, some point mid 80s. My dad just appeared in the lounge and said, by the way, I'm taking up road running. We all looked at him like he had three heads and we were like, you don't be ridiculous. What are you talking about? You know, sat us all down, like, you know, what's going on? We thought something really serious. But yeah, he decided to take up running.
00:02:13
Speaker
And he was about 55. And he always said that one of the main reasons was that he just
00:02:20
Speaker
couldn't keep up with me and my sister if we were on the beach or out and about and we were running about. He found he was out of breath and felt really unfit. So so yeah, and he took up running. He was out running one day, he saw a load of group of runners, found out they were the Norwich Roadrunners and joined up and then the rest as they say is history. Yeah, and that kind of spread through the family. So back in the 80s with most of the run or a lot of the runs anyway, they used to be fun runs.
00:02:50
Speaker
So they'd have like a three-mile, two-mile fun run for the kids to do or, you know, parents as well, I guess. So me and my sister used to do all of those, used to love doing those fun runs at various races. And then my mum, she got fed up, literally, she said this the other day in her own words, she got fed up with holding the coats and watching and decided she was going to join in as well.
Journey with Norwich Roadrunners
00:03:15
Speaker
So we became a family of runners and all thanks to my dad. Yeah, so so yeah, that's where it all started. And then gradually, I think as I then got a bit older, and I was sort of at the age where you could do road races, I joined the road runners as well. I guess I was 1617 something like that, long time ago now. And I did my first half marathon in 90. I think it was 1993. I found like a little memento from
00:03:45
Speaker
from that race, I've got that somewhere and it's 1993. So I was 19 when I did that. So yeah, so fast forward, nearly 50, well, I am 50 this year. So it's been a long time. You don't realise how the years go past and you think, have I been running for all that time?
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, that's an incredible achievement though, isn't it? Like a lot of people will kind of not be that consistent throughout their whole life. That's a great thing to be doing. To be fair, I have dipped in and out of it. I've always ran, so I've always, you know, I wasn't a member of the club for quite a few years.
00:04:22
Speaker
doing other things, you know, but I still ran and I still swam but just as sort of like a lower level, I'd just go out for like a little few miles job, I always carried on doing a little bit here and there. And then it was 2014, I had a big
00:04:38
Speaker
upheaval in my life. It was one of those years and for me and best thing to do get back to the club because as anyone knows who's a member of the club, it's a great community. A lot of people join the club to get them through hard times and all sorts of things. So I got back to the club and here I've been there, I've been there ever since. Yeah, lovely. So tell us a bit about the club then.
00:05:01
Speaker
Because we've not had many people on recently who are club runners, actually. Tell us a bit about what goes on there. Oh, okay. Well, Norwich Roadrunners is one of the biggest clubs in Norwich. Well, I mean, there's loads of clubs. We're kind of, we, after, throughout the pandemic and through the pandemic, we actually got a bit smaller again. We were quite, we got just sort of, just before the pandemic 2019, we were really big. I've been on the committee, social committee and the committee, and I'm one of the,
00:05:31
Speaker
I'm a surf coach as well, so I'm a coach in running fitness. So I help out at the club, always have done. So yeah, it's a great community. We have all sorts of people that we have, you know, people that just starting on their running journeys who just want to find out about running. They come along, we've got beginners night, we do effort speed sessions, and then we have another night where it's just a medium, short, medium or long run.
00:05:56
Speaker
And it's for everyone, everyone gets involved, we have all sorts of events, trips to races, host our own races and yeah, yeah, it's great fun. Yeah, so what kind of races do you get involved in
Race Participation and Event Organization
00:06:09
Speaker
with the club then? Do you do cross country and things like that? Yeah, we do, we have a local cross country series, East Anglin Cross Country League, which is
00:06:21
Speaker
Most clubs pay for the members to be part of that and that's sort of held every Wednesday afternoon. I do that sometimes when I can get the time off work.
00:06:28
Speaker
Um, we have like the Norfolk cross country championships. So we will go off to that. Um, we have other various things or we put on our own 5k race, um, rocks and 5k, which is very, um, one of the, one of the, it's a fairly fast course. So we get, we attract to quite a field. It's a big field and it's a field of quite fast runners. So it's always quite exciting. So, um, yeah, I was getting involved with, um, helping to Marshall and just.
00:06:59
Speaker
put the race on, putting a race on obviously takes a lot. Yeah, it does.
First Marathon Experience
00:07:06
Speaker
So tell us a bit about, you've just done, at the time of recording, you've just done the London Marathon, haven't you? I have, yes, it is, yes. So take us back, before we get onto that, just take us back to how you got into marathon distance and how long you've been running marathons for. Well, I did my first marathon actually in 2014, just before I rejoined the club.
00:07:32
Speaker
And because mum and dad, my mum and dad, they both did the London marathon. Dad did it three times. Mum's done it twice. And me and my sister used to sit there. We'd go and see them off on the coach. There'd be a club coach to London and go and see them off the coach. It's so exciting. And then we'd go and try and watch the TV and try and spot them on the TV.
00:07:54
Speaker
And so that's how we grew up. We grew up watching our parents go off and do the London Marathon. And it was just, you'd sort of thought, God, I wonder if I can do that one day. Will I be able to do that? Well, it was just a dream. So back in 2014, I was lucky enough to get a ballot place. That was when they capped it a certain amount of numbers. So the ballot in 2014 was still hard to get into, but a little bit obviously easier than it is now.
00:08:23
Speaker
So yeah, and I did that one to enjoy it, get round. It was a fairly warm one. I had sunburn at the end of it, but I loved it. Even the, you know, the painful bits. And as I came around Buckingham Palace into the mall, I was just like, I just want to do it all over again.
00:08:43
Speaker
Fast forward nine years to last year, I hadn't done another marathon. There are various reasons for that. I had developed a, I have rheumatoid arthritis and I'd had a problem with a very swollen knee for two or three years. I didn't run for a year. You can, as I went out there, I was probably gasping going, how did you, it was just, it was fine. I volunteered at Park Run and I helped with the club and stuff. So I didn't run for a year.
00:09:12
Speaker
finally touched we've got that under control and then I was entering the ballot every year and I I mean I guess I guess at the time I was doing shorter runs because I just wanted to ease in didn't know how my knee was going to be and I just wanted to do what I knew was possible and just gradually build it up so whilst I was going in the ballot I was sort of thinking I do want to get in but
00:09:38
Speaker
And then 2023, they got another ballot place. I was like, I remember I'd been, I was out walking, I'd been looking after my sister's dogs and I was out walking around where she lives in Norfolk in Redham. And I just opened up my emails on my phone. I was just standing there by the river, like absolute shock, like looking around for someone to tell.
00:10:06
Speaker
So yeah, I actually that was the first marathon I feel like I really trained for, like with a proper training plan and really trained harder than I did the first time I wasn't with the club again. Yeah, and that was again, I absolutely loved that. Again, last year, it was brilliant to be back, which is on a high the whole way round. I mean, I'm sure a lot of people out listening they've done marathons or done the London and you just forget the noise is just absolutely
00:10:37
Speaker
ego. I feel emotional just thinking about it. You know, it's one of the things which is just until you've done it, you just can't comprehend how loud all of those wonderful supports are on that course and just screaming your name like they you make eye contact with some of them and they just go and come on go for it. And for that instant second, you are
00:11:03
Speaker
your friends, you're at one, because they genuinely mean it. They mean every single word that they're shouting and screaming and you feel that kind of that energy and that love. It's just it's just the most amazing thing. And I was lucky enough to get my good for age last year. Well, I was lucky enough to get under the time. But of course, then you have the nervous wait to see how under you know, if you've got enough
00:11:33
Speaker
Um, enough minutes under, under the time to actually get a place. Um, and I did. So I, um, say this year I ran my Good 4 Age place. That was fantastic. Um, yeah. So, um, and even though it was a year apart, it's still, I still, you go around and you, you share that they're louder, that all the supporters and the crowds are louder. There was one bit which was just a absolute
00:12:01
Speaker
I remember it was getting it's in the latter stages and it was I think it was going through one of the tunnels and it was just like you were at some sort of concert that was screaming and the noise just took literally literally took my breath away and it was just and it just brought they brought tears to my eyes numerous times just yeah so
00:12:27
Speaker
It was a special one this year as I ran it for my dad. We lost my dad last year because he developed lymphoma cancer. So over the course of last year, we were all going through that. I was very pleased that he saw me run last year's marathon because I managed to beat his PB.
00:12:52
Speaker
Finally. Oh, really? Okay. That was a proud moment for both of you, actually. Well, he's always said to everyone about he's always said that they can't, they can't meet my sister, they can't beat my times, they can't beat my PBs. And for a long time, we hadn't beaten some of his PBs. Because even though he did, he must have done that, he did four hours, three minutes. And he must have done that when he was in his mid
00:13:19
Speaker
early to mid 60s. Yeah. So yeah, and I managed to, I managed to tell him that I was doing it again. And I was doing it for him. So I raised money for lymphoma action. I had a ballot place, but I still raised money for lymphoma action, who were very helpful to all of us when we were going through that. And
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, so it was a very special and emotional race. The London Marathon is special to us as a family anyway, but that was very special.
Training Adaptations and Strategies
00:13:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I've got goosebumps while you're talking about your dad. Yeah, it's obviously a really special race for all of you actually.
00:14:04
Speaker
I mean, did your dad kind of share his favourite moments of the race with you? Was that kind of what was going through your head? Oh, yes. Obviously, when he ran it, when they used to go out around Docklands, that was very different because he did it. They kind of did it
00:14:23
Speaker
89, 90, and then Dad also did it in about 95, 96, I think, something like that. So that area was really different back then. It wasn't developed like it is now, and it was probably a bit of a poorer area, I don't know. But
00:14:38
Speaker
He used to, because he used to get the jelly babies and the sweets from the kids and everything, and they just kind of wanted to shake his hand or whatever. And so, because he was so overwhelmed at being given sweets from these little kids in this, which would have looked like probably quite a rougher area than it is now, anyway, I don't know, it would have been very different.
00:15:01
Speaker
One year he went back, he took presents for any kids that were out there. He took like little pens and he carried them around and he gave these kids little pens because they were there supporting him and giving them sweets and he decided to take them some presents.
00:15:18
Speaker
That is so nice. What's going through his head to think that he's carrying these pens with him on a marathon? I don't know, they might just be little pens, but yeah, he took pens around the London mouth and gave them out around the Dockmans area. No, that's a lovely story. Yeah, because I guess nowadays it's so different because my memories of running through that area that is just so echoey and he's just
00:15:43
Speaker
It's just big and loud, isn't it? And all the support noise seems to just echo off the skyscrapers. It does. It's a great piece of the course and the support is so good there now, but it's also a strange, it's strange because you're in that kind of
00:16:01
Speaker
You're in that kind of zone where it's starting to get into the realms of hardness. I mean, it could be, you know, obviously different people have different races, but you're kind of hitting the 18 miles and you've got 19, 20, you're coming out of there and it's starting to be like, and you're trying to get that out of your head. You're trying to kind of get that. I've still got eight miles to go, wherever it is to go. And your legs might be starting to, your mind's playing tricks on you. Your legs are starting to hurt.
00:16:31
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I remember I had a goal to get, get through there and get to 22 because after 22 miles, I see, um, my club, that's where they are. So they're at the halfway, halfway and 22. So you see them twice. Um, so, so yeah, the gold get to 22.
00:16:53
Speaker
then get to 24 and then you're nearly home. So whatever's happening, then you can deal with it, hopefully. That's not too long to go, is there? No, no, no. So so, yeah, it was. Yeah, I feel like and it's quite strange because I didn't feel like this last year, but having done a third marathon and I feel like I'm only still learning about the marathon distance.
00:17:23
Speaker
It's a strange thing. I've done so many 5Ks, 10Ks, halves, et cetera. But the marathon is, for me anyway, it's such a different beast in that you learn so much about your running, yourself, your mind, your body. Over that, 26.2, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, whatever you get, miles. And I know I
00:17:51
Speaker
I've changed a few things this time from last time. You look at your race and you think, because last time when I was coming up to 22, I started to have cramp threatening. I didn't get cramp, but it was starting to twinge. And I knew if I pushed with that leg, I was going to have cramp and I didn't want that. So I just had to slow down a little bit, not much, but you couldn't kind of then try and eke out whatever you could. You had to just watch the leg.
00:18:21
Speaker
I really didn't want to stop. Um, so this year I, um, I changed my fueling strategy. I, I took gels at every four miles, um, wide four, eight, 12, 16. Then I went to 19 cause I was starting to feel like I needed more energy. And then I think I did 22 and a half or something like that. And I had, I did have one cup of Luke's aid sport as well. Um, but yeah, I, I,
00:18:50
Speaker
had more gels this year. And that I, whether it was just a fluke, whatever it was, but I didn't have the cramp threatening. I drank more early on as well. And I think taking the gels early on, that all helped. I was going to try and take salt tablets. But I didn't, the one time I trained with them, I don't, I think it was the particular day, to be honest, I think I tried to get out too early, I'd eaten breakfast, and hadn't digested it enough.
00:19:20
Speaker
And I had these salt tablets and I felt so sick for a very long run. And that's not very nice. So I hadn't tested them enough. So I forgot about the salt tablets and just went with the gels. So that seemed to definitely work. I had definitely felt like I had a little bit more at the end in me than I did last year. Yeah. Did your pacing change on the day as well? What else? Did you change anything else?
00:19:51
Speaker
I changed. What else did I well in in my training, I did more strength work. So and yeah, I did a little bit more strength work and I did more cycling. So I still swim. I always swim because it just seems to relax everything completely. But I added more cycling in the gym over the winter. So I'm the combination of the extra weights and core work as well.
00:20:20
Speaker
And that I think I think that really I definitely felt stronger. So I'm going to do more of that for next marathon.
Training Schedule and Managing Fatigue
00:20:30
Speaker
I'll do more of that, definitely. And I did also in my training, I did also did five days a week this time. Last year, I started on five days, I did it for about I get a training plan from
00:20:46
Speaker
one of the coaches at the club, Richard, who was a, in his day, he was, I think a 226 or 227 marathoner. So he's got pretty good form from the past. So yeah. So I have a training plan from him. And last year I just did, I did, I tried to do five days and because I hadn't been doing much distance and doing much, I came out of the pandemic. My running was really, really low. I hadn't done much mileage.
00:21:16
Speaker
at all, and that all took a hit during the pandemic. So I'd emerged from that and hadn't done a half marathon since 2019. So then I tried to step up to five days a week and I just got so fatigued, so fatigued. So I cut it back down. But this year I tried the five times and stuck with it.
00:21:36
Speaker
And it was obviously timing. I was exhausted, but I was okay with it. It was that level of tiredness that is kind of normal in a way. So yeah, so there was quite a few things I changed and which I'd stick with again. And I'm also very proud of that I hit my first ever 50 mile week. Oh, wow. I needed one of them and I was broken. I was absolutely broken. I was like, I don't know how the pros go.
00:22:07
Speaker
even, I just don't know how they, I mean, sometimes they're not, some of them aren't working. Some are, some are still though. And, you know, just because some of them are pros doesn't mean some of them don't have to work, some don't. But yeah, but yeah, 50 miles was, wow, that was hard. So how far out from the marathon was that? Oh my goodness. That wasn't, I'm not sure if that was one of my weeks with the
00:22:37
Speaker
like the 18 or 20 miles in it must have been but it was it was quite a way out it's kind of just after midway i think okay it wasn't it wasn't it was kind of we'd really built up um so it was it was getting towards the later stages but not in the yeah not in the last it wasn't definitely in the last month and two thirds the way through perhaps yeah how long was your training cycle for this marathon then out of interest i did 16 weeks yes okay started exactly on the first of january
00:23:07
Speaker
And what kind of sessions were you including as well as your strength and your, your cycle and what kind of running sessions were you doing? Oh, yeah. So I had, well, it was, it was all the same sort of stuff, but just done in a different way. So I had effort sessions, all sorts of different types of effort sessions. And then on the Wednesday run was, let me think, the Wednesday run was usually a kind of a medium distance sort of
00:23:35
Speaker
it went up so 60 minutes easy, 70 minutes easy, 80 minutes easy. So that was that was kind of an easy stretch out. I think I got up to about nine, nine to 10 miles on a Wednesday run. Easy. And then Thursday was kind of not efforts. But
00:23:57
Speaker
some of the sessions were broken up. Like I know, I remember last year I did a lot of, um, my coach had me doing, I think it was to make the sessions a bit more interesting as well. So they, I guess they were more tempo perhaps. So I was doing like three times 10 minutes, then three, or no, I started on three times eight or four, four times eight, four times. Um, and then I'd do four times 10, four times 12, and I think four times 15.
00:24:27
Speaker
Um, don't know if we got up to 20 minutes, but it was those sort of sessions where you could break it up a bit. So instead of just going out for another, I don't know, 10 mile run or eight mile run or something, you just break it up a bit. Um, so you could, you could add a bit of tempo into it as well. So this, this is kind of a slightly uncomfortable pace where you just push in a little bit. A little bit. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:52
Speaker
I always said to Richard, my coach, every Saturday is park run and I will usually be going for it as I do every week. And luckily there was some weeks where it was like, no, let's just take it easy this week. But he did on some of the hard weeks.
00:25:10
Speaker
before a long run he had them and it said parkrun in capital letters fast and then on the Sunday it's great it works because you were running on really tired legs for your longer run and so yeah it was it was and that was a change actually because I didn't do quite as many fast park runs last year before I then went out on the Sunday
00:25:34
Speaker
That will have helped, won't it? Yeah, doing all those long runs on tired legs, definitely. What did your long runs look like? Did you do more of those this time? Did you go further? My longest one was going to be 23. Last year it was 22.
00:25:57
Speaker
I ended up doing 23 because my watch went askew at the beginning. So and this this year I was definitely had 23 in and it was one of those days, we all have those days as runners where it just went absolutely out the window. It was, it was cold, it was freezing and it was windy. It had a really cold. I mean, I think this is the windiest training block I've ever done. It just never stopped.
Challenges in Training Conditions
00:26:25
Speaker
It was just
00:26:26
Speaker
constant wind, cold, constant headwind. And I'd gone out to do this 23. And I hadn't put I usually run if there's if it's cold wind, I run in this gilet, which just keeps the wind off my tummy, because that can really impact on me. So some reason I thought, well, I've been getting a bit too warm, I'm going to leave that today, thinking it wasn't that windy.
00:26:53
Speaker
No, it was very windy. So it was about 16 miles. I got a terrible chill. I had to divert into a nearby supermarket to use their facilities. Thank goodness it was very close. And then I came out of there thinking, I feel rough. Should I just, it was a couple of miles home. Should I just go home? I thought, no, just jog a bit, see how you feel.
00:27:17
Speaker
wasn't feeling great, I have to say. But I was okay. And I just I carried on to 21.7. I was going to try and get to 22. And I just thought there's no point in trying in making myself feel ill, or even more fatigued at this stage, because it was getting late, obviously, in the latter stages of training. But that was just one of those hideous days where it was just like, though, I think it was like, you're almost like
00:27:46
Speaker
where marathon training breaks you down and you're out and you're just like, I just want to go home. And you really do question your life choices on days like that and you're thinking, okay, so why am I doing this again?
00:28:06
Speaker
I think that's the thing with training for London, isn't it? Well, kind of any spring marathon, you train it all through the dark winter months and it's great for keeping us motivated, but you do question your hobbies, don't you? Yeah, definitely in marathon training for a spring marathon. I don't know how I'd feel about doing an autumn marathon and having to train through the later stages of summer.
00:28:32
Speaker
I don't know how, I mean, it would be okay. I'm not sure whether I'd feel it was too warm in a way. I know people say that they do like those because then when the weather cools down for your marathon, you're then, that's when your form comes. That's when it all comes together. But I imagine I'll try it one day. I think if I get into, I can't remember which some of the, is it Berlin?
00:28:58
Speaker
is later in the year I think. Yeah that's September isn't it Berlin? Oh that's September, that's still quite early. It can be hot there can't it still September. Yeah some friends are doing the Amsterdam marathon which I think is October and I've done the Amsterdam half back in 2015 and the temperature was fine for that so yeah. Yeah I think you never quite know with September do you though? No. So talk us through how it went at London then so we've heard about your
London Marathon Day and Future Goals
00:29:27
Speaker
training.
00:29:27
Speaker
I mean, it was, it was
00:29:36
Speaker
The weather was pretty much spot on, however, there was a very cold wind. I was on Blue Star at Blackheath and went up there with my friend and got there and was like, oh, this is cold. If I get through this without getting a chill, it's going to be a miracle. However,
00:29:59
Speaker
once we got self sorted. And once we got into the start pens, and you've got that energy and excitement and all the other body heat around you, it was okay. And it was I felt it was a nice temperature for running it in the end, you didn't really get the wind wasn't really an impact around the course, you didn't really have a headwind, you got the old gust here and there and you turned a corner, but nothing that really kind of
00:30:24
Speaker
worried you made a difference. So I stuck to my plan, started off steady and slower than the pace, your goal pace, because it feels weird because you've tapered, you've got all this energy and it's the start of a marathon and it's exciting.
00:30:46
Speaker
and your legs feel fresh. And you just want to go flying off at 5k pace. It's really, you have to hold yourself back so much that you feel you're going. You're like, this is, I'm going way slower, but you're not. But I set off and I kept it steady and kept it steady. Just let the Mars tick off. And I was kind of aiming for 5k, aiming for Cutty Sark, obviously. And then I was thinking right now, just tick it over and get to Tara Bridge.
00:31:16
Speaker
Um, and I was, I was, yeah, I was feeling good. I was feeling a little more sluggish than I did last year. Um, so, and I wasn't too sure how I was going to do because of everything I trained just after we lost dad. So that the little marathon training block this time was really hard. Um, my mum, my mum's okay now, but she was very seriously ill, um, two weeks after we lost dad.
00:31:44
Speaker
so that she was in hospital so all through my training and it got to be honest the running obviously got me through all that it was great got me through everything really helped me over that that really difficult period with um dad and then mum getting it as well um but but yeah so i felt a little bit sluggish um and i just thought look just enjoy it if you if you get the time you want it's fine if not you've done the london marathon again you just want to finish it and get round
00:32:15
Speaker
And as I was going along, I was just keeping it steady, I was looking at my watch, I was trying not to look at it too much, because I didn't want to start fixating on it if it went slow or if I was. And I think I looked at it a couple of times. And it seemed to be very similar. I was like, I was around every time I looked at it, it seemed to say 835 and 835 pace and I was like,
00:32:38
Speaker
Okay, well, and there was like the odd 820 and they're not, you know. So I just thought I'd just keep ticking along like this. I had a couple of miles where I dipped to 850s, but then I, there was a couple of times where I, it was just one of those, and we all go through, I think, you'll suddenly feel dreadful. You'll suddenly feel like, oh no, this is it, this is happening, it's happening, it's all gonna go wrong.
00:33:04
Speaker
And I just felt really sick for about a mile, not badly sick, but just like, whoa, didn't feel good. But then it picked that went off and I picked picked up picked up again. Got to like 22. I'm still feeling okay. Saw my club, which was a great boost, huge boost at 22 miles. And I carried on and because in my mind, it was this is the point last year, I started to feel my leg
00:33:34
Speaker
twinge didn't happen. And I was waiting for it didn't happen. So and it's, it's quite funny, because I'd already I'd always said that if I get to that stage in the marathon again, and I'm not getting cramp, I'm going to give it everything I've got the full send all of that. That doesn't it doesn't work. I could keep my pace steady, though. I didn't have to dip back. But
00:34:00
Speaker
it's not like the end of a 10k or the end of something like that, where you can really just like, really stretch out and you know, you you are in in a way you still are because it's a marathon. But anyway, I kept going. And I was coming around to coming on
00:34:21
Speaker
birdcade walk and as we came around into the mallon I managed to pick it up. It wasn't like a sprint sprint but it was, I was like, because what I was finishing on Narsha I looked at my watch as it was coming down I was like what?
00:34:37
Speaker
So I just like, yeah, just brought it home and I got a three and a half minute PB, which I was like, as I was coming on birdcage, I knew I was going to get a good PB because I could see the time and I was like, well, even if I walked from here, I'm going to be all right. I was like completely shocked because I didn't think I was going to do anything that day, you know, I was going to do, I was doing the marathon, it was amazing, but I didn't think I was going to do a time as we all talked about.
00:35:07
Speaker
and yeah and then when I when I looked back when I've sort of got the London Marathon app up and I looked at my splits I mean I just I'm still I'm still in absolute shock because I round those I
00:35:26
Speaker
completely even I had three miles which were all 833 833 833 and they were all around and you know the average pace which was shown on the app it was like every sort of
00:35:39
Speaker
It was like changed by like a second going down. And, and I finished on the same pace that I started with. And I was just like, I have no idea how that happened. I just kept it steady. And it was just, I've, I've got some friends I follow who do a lot of marathons. And there's one particular person and I follow her splits. And I've spoken to her and said, How have you got your pace so even? Because she's like, boom, boom, boom,
00:36:08
Speaker
completely even all the way through and finishing strong. And I honestly have no idea how I'm still thinking about it. And I'm still like walking around going, did I do that? So it was just the most wonderful day. It was, yeah, it was obviously painful, but it was Yeah, and I can't wait to do another marathon. Yeah, so yeah, so so you completely kind of
00:36:38
Speaker
you obviously paced that perfectly and you got a lot right. You said at the start that you're still learning. So what would you what would you change next time if anything? I want to be a little bit braver because I think I can if you look if you look at my other
00:36:57
Speaker
PBs or my other current pace for other races, I should be capable of going a little bit faster than that still. So I just want to be a bit a little bit braver with it, because I do feel like I do really hold myself back. So I do feel like I can yeah, I can definitely be a bit braver with it. And I think that means being braver in training as well. And
00:37:25
Speaker
and focusing more on next time on kind of my goal pace, focusing on my goal pace a bit more. In this training block, I was in a way and I knew where a bounce I wanted to be, but I wasn't because of everything going on as well with my parents, I wasn't really focused on that particular goal pace or seeing if I could just do a lot of the training slightly above goal pace. So then goal pace feels a bit easier perhaps and seeing what I can do.
00:37:54
Speaker
So another time, if I then start thinking about, oh, actually I am going to, you know, try for this particular time and try and knock a few more minutes off, I'd definitely do that differently and then add in more strength and conditioning. Yeah, definitely. And keep my fueling strategy. That seemed to work. Yeah. Yeah. That's obviously working for you, isn't it? What kind of strength work do you do then? Are you lifting heavy weights?
00:38:27
Speaker
I've done a lot of core work. The leg, I don't know what to call them. I don't know the technical name, but the leg machines at the gym. I've never been a gym, I've never been a really regular gym user. I used to be a long time ago, but I've never really used all the equipment a lot.
00:38:47
Speaker
So it's the ones where you'll sit back in the chair and you'll push your legs up. So you're pushing the weights away, which really works all the top of your legs. And I really found that made... When I first started using that, and I was building that up, even before I was marathon training, I noticed a difference in my running, a huge difference in my running. And with the cycling as well, I had a little twinge in my calf
00:39:16
Speaker
It wasn't much, it wasn't an injury, but it was just a little bit, if I pull in my calf early on, right early on.
00:39:23
Speaker
And there was a couple of weeks where I just had to completely lay off the running, really brought it right down. I've learned my lesson the hard way with injuries. So, and then I got on the bike and I hadn't, I'd hardly done any running for a couple of weeks, maybe two, three weeks. And I've been going for it on the bike, came, started running again, went to park run and just like absolutely blasted it round.
00:39:49
Speaker
And so the cycling I know helps me. So I'm a big cross trainer mainly because of my swimming background and I've always swam, but I'm a big cross trainer. I personally have to do something else other than just running to give my legs a break and especially as I get older.
00:40:10
Speaker
especially as I've got older, I find I need more rest, but the rest can be cross training as well. So I'm giving my running legs a rest by getting in the pool. And the cycling helps as well. I mean, I like to do triathlons anyway when I can. But all of that cross training just helps me so much. I'm always trying to encourage other running friends to cross train.
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah, it does help, doesn't it? So are you doing something every day then, or do you ever kind of take a complete rest day as well? Yeah, when I am training, yeah, on Mondays, Mondays is swimming day, so I don't run on a Monday. And then, well, in marathon training, anyway, I was running Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then do nothing on Friday. Absolutely nothing. I'm usually exhausted by Friday anyway, for the whole week, working week.
00:41:03
Speaker
And then it gives you a chance to just kind of prepare to enjoy parkrun, have a blast at parkrun and then be ready for the Sunday run. So yeah, I do, in this block it was five days a week. When I'm training normally, I guess I do about four days a week, but then I'll still swim and cycle on other days as well. Yeah. So are you doubling up sessions that you're kind of doing your gym on running days as well then? Is that how you tend to work? Yeah, I would.
00:41:31
Speaker
I think I was struggling. It was hard. It was to be honest, hard to fit in the gym. I was going for a cycle kind of on a Saturday afternoon, I did do that. And that kind of did give me gave me the fatigue legs on a Sunday. And
00:41:46
Speaker
And just trying to fit it in really during the week when I can. Swimming I find easier to fit in. The gym is more of a challenge, which I think more carefully about next time. But it is really hard to fit it in, especially when you're marathon training, because it does take over everything. Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Life kind of gets in the way of our training sometimes, doesn't it? Yeah, it can do sometimes. I don't think it's that marathon training's owner is such.
00:42:16
Speaker
We still need to do all the other stuff. Unfortunately, we still need to do everything. Running isn't my job. I wish it was, but yeah, there's still other stuff you need to do. So you'll obviously be applying. Have you applied already for a good for each place?
00:42:34
Speaker
for London next year. Yes, yeah, I will be once that's so open. And I, I go up an age group, so I get a few more minutes. So I'm a bit lucky this year. Not that you need them now. But yeah, you've got a bit more of a buffer, I guess, haven't you? I have, yes. And I've also got a fairly big buffer for Boston. So I'm hoping to try for Boston.
00:42:57
Speaker
That would be exciting. That's one of my, I love the city of Boston and it's a just absolute dream to go and do the Boston Marathon as it is for a lot of people but I just, I've been to Boston twice and I just absolutely love to do that. I did try
00:43:16
Speaker
this year, but I only had a minute and a half, which wasn't enough. Yeah, so you got a bit more now, haven't you? I've got a bit more now, yes. Have you got your eyes on the other majors? Well, I never thought I would. However, I have to admit, actually, this week, just a couple of days ago, I couldn't sleep. And I decided to look up all the qualifying times. And as Chicago, I was like, well, I could get in Chicago. That's not too bad.
00:43:45
Speaker
I think then Berlin was a bit harder. I mean, it wasn't too bad. I can't remember what Berlin was. And then I think you get, obviously, Tokyo, I think is the hardest, New York's pretty hard as well. Some of the, there was a couple of other qualifying times which I could do. I think the New York one, I think there's one of them which were taking half marathon times.
00:44:11
Speaker
but I think that's changing apparently. I think my friend said it's changing. So the half marathon time, I would have been okay on, but the marathon time, that was 3.30 and I'm not, I wasn't nowhere near that. So yeah, I have looked. Well, watch this space. Yeah, I do have a couple of friends who are six star finishers, which is amazing, absolutely amazing.
00:44:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, what an adventure, though, just to kind of travel to all these places and run there. Yeah, I've, I've started, I have started saving now thinking, okay, don't leave it until you know if you've got anything, even if you don't get into Boston.
00:44:52
Speaker
You can have a holiday. You have enough money for a nice holiday anyway. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, so I mean, what advice would you give to people then who are kind of thinking of taking on the marathon distance like you have maybe a little bit later in life? What would you advise? I would say go for it. Absolutely go for it. You can do it. But I would say that
00:45:21
Speaker
respect the marathon distance and take it slowly and sensibly, get a training plan. There's no reason why you can't go from a lot lower mileage or if you haven't been a runner for long up to marathon, plenty of people enter the ballot who aren't runners and they will train up and do it and get round and it's a great achievement.
00:45:50
Speaker
But if you want to do it well, you don't want to get injured, have a good base fitness first. I know how hard it is and I've been a runner for a long time. So get a base fitness first. Get used to doing some races like 5K, 10Ks, get up to half distance. Try the half marathon because yeah, I did the cultures to half this year kind of as part of my training and I haven't raced many half marathons. I know my goodness, that was hard.
00:46:19
Speaker
forgotten how hard a half race pace is. And so yeah, just build it up and definitely get a training plan and just take it really slowly. Don't be afraid to rest. Don't be afraid to stop if you're fatigued or you've got any slight injuries. But it's absolutely possible. My dad started running at 55. He didn't do his first marathon until he was in his early 60s. And he
00:46:47
Speaker
he's a he's also didn't he's done his ultra races, did a 34, four mile knot into knotting into Grantham canal run twice he did that. So and, you know, and he would have done that in his late 60s. So I would say if you're around my age, or even if you're, you know, turning 40, or any, just, you can absolutely do it. Don't think that that's for other people, because it's not. If you really want to do it, you, you have to really want to do it. Because, you know,
00:47:16
Speaker
You can't sugar coat it that the training is really hard, but it's such an achievement. And the day itself, you won't believe you're doing it. You just, you're even afterwards, you, did I really do that? And it's such an amazing thing to do. I would say go for it. Yeah, that's brilliant. I think you never forget your first marathon. Do you either? I think you always have such special memories, however it goes. Yeah, however it goes. Yeah.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yeah, the hardest thing about the marathon is getting to the start line. If you get to that start line, you've already done a huge achievement. You've already achieved something a lot of people will never achieve by getting through that training by believing in yourself to sign up and say, yes, I can do this. I'm going to commit to this. And I'm going to get round that 26.2 miles, for whatever reason, personal reasons, for charity reasons, for any reason at all.
00:48:16
Speaker
But yeah, get into the start line and then get to that start line and then just enjoy what comes next. Yeah, it's a wonderful experience. Well, thank you so much, Rachel, for joining us. It's been lovely chatting to you. Oh, no, it's been really nice. Thank you so much for having me. It's really nice. It's the first podcast I've ever done. Oh, you've done brilliantly. Yeah, really enjoyed our chat tonight.
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you very much. You are on the UK Rancher Hour very soon for us as well, aren't you? Yes, I am. Yeah, we'll be in a few weeks time, I think. Yes. So we'll look forward to chatting to you again then. So thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks, Michelle.