Running | Family Affairs and other matters

FT WEEKEND MAGAZINE: HAILE GEBRSELASSIE INTERVIEW

Monday, February 28, 2011

I have got into the habit of feeling obligated to buy the Financial Times Weekend paper every week. I have in fact been buying this paper for quite a long time on and off because it makes me feel clever – even if it’s just the proud walk with the paper under my arm, from [...]

DIARY OF A LONDON MARATHON RUNNER 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

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I've asked my lovely friend to write about her experience and her training regime over the next eight weeks or so leading up to the marathon, but know that if I don't make it impossible for her to avoid....she'll avoid it. She's agreed to write at least a weekly update and so I'm starting it off, so that she's well and truly committed. She is horrified that she's got a place and frankly terrified. She is having regular nightmare's about coming last, dragging herself over the last few miles whilst being overtaken by the hippo, the dinosaur, the 95 year old man in no shoes.... It is apparently unheard of to get a place from the ballot on your first attempt at entry, but of course she did. She has hired a personal trainer to help her with the overall plan and is already coping with 15 mile runs. She is doing amazingly well already and we're all immensely proud of her for doing it. She and I stood on the sidelines of the marathon last year with all our children (including my daughter shouting "come on Flora" to everybody that passed until I managed to correct her - well she does have a friend called Flora, so presumably she thought it was perfectly reasonable that only people called Flora entered the marathon that year). We were cheering on another lovely friend and we got hopelessly caught up in the excitement and drama and sheer emotion of the day. I luckily got over it by the time I got home, she stupidly took it one step too far. Anyway, hopefully when she writes it down, we'll get to learn a little then about what you should be doing during which week and what you should be eating before you run and what you should be taking with you on the run and what barriers she's up against and how she's feeling and who she wants to kill and so on..... Over to her then. Very soon. Hopefully.