Running the London Marathon is a huge goal for many runners. We are here to introduce some of the INCUS-enabled athletes running this year’s event and find out how INCUS has helped with their London Marathon training.
4- Hour Goal
Zoe is a former gossip columnist whose first running goal was to beat The Saturday’s in a 5km. Her London Marathon goal is to go sub-4 hours.
I started running in 2007 when I was a gossip columnist at the Sunday Mirror. Every night involved at least one glass of Champagne and I felt that if I did some movement in the morning, it refreshed me ahead of the next day. (I wish it was so easy now to fight a hangover).
In Battersea Park in March 2008 I did a 5km, which included Paula Radcliffe and The Saturdays. I'd never run a 5k before and I had no concept of how long it would take but I didn't want to get beaten by The Saturdays.
I sprinted round as fast as I could. I did it in 19 mins and I was about 10 mins ahead of the Saturdays, b still quite a way behind Paula!
That gave me the bug, I entered my first marathon in 2009. I loved it. I did 3hr 56 in 2009 and 3hr 52 in 2010. My fastest marathon is 3hr 36.
I had a break to have 2 kids in quick succession (so I was pregnant in 2015 and baby no 1 born in 2016 and then no 2 in 2017) but I got back in shape for a half in 2018 and London in 2019, which I did in 4hrs and 42 secs. Annoying! Those 42 seconds are so irritating.
I love that running allows me to be on my own, out in the fresh air and the rhythmic plodding of putting one foot in front of the other is great thinking time. I often have my biggest ideas / brainstorms while running
London Ambitions
Ideally 43 seconds faster than London 2019! But I will take as close to 4 hours as I can get now. October marathons are hard as I've been on holiday in the summer and my husband has been racing Ironman events which means I lost a lot of weekends that I would usually have fitted in a long run. And with the kids off school, I can't catch up during the week.
If I got somewhere close to 4 it'd be a success.
I'm most looking forward to the halfway point (I just love that tower bridge part), seeing the crowds, having a chat with runners near me, and of course crossing the finishing line and getting a medal (which my children will fight over who gets to wear it first).
London Marathon Preparation
Training has been difficult in the summer months. I haven't done as many miles as I would have liked to. However, I have made sure that each session has counted. Using my INCUS, I have worked on flight time and ground contact time.
I've also been more conscious of running form on left vs right and my landing deceleration on each side of the body. I have tracked my progress in the INCUS | CLOUD app, it's been a useful post-session to review how the run went.
So I've avoided injury which is a huge achievement as most marathons are started with some niggle or other.
London Marathon Recovery
I've booked a spa day at Champneys the following weekend AND I've booked into see my amazing sports masseuse in Ealing the following day.
That day, I'll have the biggest burger with all the toppings (relish, cheese, avo, mushrooms and onion rings minimum) and chips with ketchup, maybe chased with a glass of ice cold Champagne.
Sub 3-Hour Goal
Meet Sam, a first time marathon runner going for under 3-hours.
It is my first marathon but it is a long term goal for me, having been a runner for 15 years. I was involved in athletics at school before taking up triathlon so I've done lots of shorter runs up to half-marathon.
I got my London Marathon spot via a qualification 'Championship' entry, in which you needed to run a Half Marathon in under 75 minutes to get a slot. I’m aiming for sub 2:40 in order to qualify for future Championship events, but anything under 2:45 would be a success for me.
I’m looking to learn a lot from my first marathon and I plan just to survive from mile 20 onwards! Using INCUS performance metrics to track my progress has been a part of my marathon training plans.
London Marathon Preparation
Training has gone as smoothly as I could have possibly hoped, I have a really good network of friends to run with as part of my running club. Lots of them are training for a marathon too so I had no excuses to not get the training done.
I was especially thankful for the company on some of the long Sunday runs. My INCUS | NOVA run came in useful at the end of these long runs where I could see how my form and stride was changing as I got to unknown territories and the fatigue started to build. Using the running metrics gave me plenty of information so I could improve my technique.
London Marathon Recovery
I’m looking forward to having a good few weeks off running after the marathon and getting stuck into some off-road mountain biking in the mud. Immediately after the marathon, I'll be recovering with a nice cold pint!
Don't forget to head to our Run Store and discover how INCUS can help you train for your next marathon
