Category: TRAINING

My marathon journey: from stroke to finish line

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Lou Read, 36, a lawyer and mum of two, from Notts was a sub 20 minute Parkrun runner until she suffered a stroke last October which left her unable to walk or even talk. Almost a year on from the anniversary of her stoke, she shares the first of her monthly blog posts for Girls Run the World, charting her training and return to the London Marathon in April 2020.  The marathon and I have unfinished business. After dropping from a time of 3hrs, 26minutes to 3hours, 13minutes between 2016 and 2017, I gave training for the London Marathon 2018

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What to do if you didn’t get a London Marathon ballot entry

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Have you been disappointed in not getting an entry to the 2020 London marathon for the first/fifth/tenth time? If you want to increase your chances of getting into London 2021 WITHOUT having to enter the ballot or get a charity place, read on our advice about how to go about it… Get a good for age marathon place WAIT! Before you dismiss this out of hand as ludicrous, reflect on this; one of our coaches here, Tara, ran her first marathon at 4 hours 48 minutes, no where near a good for age place.  She also had no history of

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Knee pain explained – and three ways to train your way out of pain

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Knee pain can take many women out of action, from beginners to seasoned female athletes. Here’s what causes it and what you can do to prevent – or recover from it…. All too often, we push through knee pain, pushing it away thinking that it will go away or that the pain is just in our head. But when it turns into a persistent, dull nagging ache, sharp pain or even feels like ground glass under the kneecap, you know that the situation is going to need more than just taking ibuprofen.  Here we explain the mechanisms behind knee pain and

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3 reasons why you should use a kettlebell if you’re a female runner/triathlete

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Nowadays, most female runners and triathletes understand the importance of strength training.  When it comes to kettlebells though, many baulk, anxious about it’s look, the movement pattern and potential impact on the back, along with not quite knowing what to do with it. But put that all to one side, because the kettlebell is the best bit of kit for women training for endurance running and triathlon, not just for the huge benefits it brings but for the fact that it saves SO much time.  In brief, a proper swing involves holding the kettlebell by its handle in both hands

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Science of the core: 3 of the best core exercises for female runners

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Think core and most people think of it as just the rippling (or not) six pack muscles. Or if you’ve done some Pilates, maybe you’ll have heard about the TVA – the transverse abdominal muscle, which helps to create a corset-like affect and helps to protect your back. But the core is much more than this, it’s your internal and external obliques, your back muscles, pelvic floor, TVA,  six pack, and even your butt.  The best way to think of the core and why it’s so important, according to the American College of Sports Medicine is to think of it

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5 Ways to Return to Running Fitness Successfully

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After the long hazy days of summer with no training structure, it can be tempting to rush back to running and overdo it. STOP! First, read our guide to getting back to race sharpness swiftly, safely and without adding stress to an already busy life. Words & Pictures: Sarah Shaw As we dash around, dusting off our work-life juggling skills, getting kids sorted for school while attempting to relocate our hole-free work tights from the back of drawers, it will hit many of us how much we’ve let our running fitness go. But there’s no need to panic, as the new season is a

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Find out how YOU could get a London GFA place

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This week, Virgin London Marathon announced that a record number of applicants, 457,861 had registered for a place in the 2020 event. This is a 10.5 % increase on last year’s record. Yet with just 17,5000 places available (approximately), that’s going to be mean a lot of disappointed runners who be even less likely to get a ballot place than last year. But here at Girls Run the World, we could help you secure a good for age place with the right training*. Want to know whether you’re in with a chance, and if not, how you could be? All

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#grtwproject26.2 ‘It hurt but would I do it again? Yes!’

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With less than a week before the London marathon, our #grtwproject26.2 runner, Rachel Sparkhall, who we coached for the Paris Marathon has these thoughts to share for those about to run their first marathon in London…   I sit here typing this as a marathon runner, feeling proud as punch even though the Paris marathon didn’t go quite according to plan.  Right from the start, my pace was off target but I kept calm because the training that I’ve done with Tara of Girls Run the World has taught me to hold a little back at the start and aim

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5 Ways to Tackle the Post marathon blues

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You feel so fantastic after crossing that finish line of the marathon, and it tides you right through  to …ooh, about 24 hours later. Then the blues hit. Here’s our guide on how to avoid it –  After spending 12 to even 20 weeks training for a marathon, and pretty much the last fortnight leading up to the marathon obsessing over every little detail, it’s small wonder that the majority of runners spend the next week feeling really down. It’s partly because you are left with a huge vacuum where all that training and obsessing used to sit in your diary

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