Whole Foods Market Breakfast Run

When it comes to running, you can achieve a great deal in one year. I met a lady yesterday who had run several 5K races and had never completed a 10K. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be able to run for that distance,’ she said in a defeated tone. I wanted to reassure her just how much you can improve mileage and stamina in a relatively short period of time if you run regularly and keep training. This time last year, I completed the 8.2-mile distance of the Whole Foods Market Breakfast Run. I was a stone heavier, had only one very slow half marathon under my belt and had barely run more than four miles in training. Somehow I just didn’t seem be very good at making time for longer runs of beyond 30 or 40 minutes. Back then, if you’d had said to me that I’d be completing the 16-mile distance of the same event a year later, I would have dismissed it as impossible. It just goes to show how much can be achieved by ordinary runners. And that improving your performance is not just for athletes.This year, like a lot of fellow competitors, I treated the 16-mile distance as a training run for my first marathon (Brighton) on 10th April. The race was well organised, with plenty of marshals and staff on hand. The 8.2-mile distance started on time at 8am and the non-elite 16-mile runners like myself started promptly at 8.35am. The race begins in Kingston town centre then rapidly moves onto the river bank by the River Thames, which you run along for the first few miles and past Hampton Court, before exiting and running over Hampton Court Bridge. The rest of the race is primarily straight road. The 16-mile distance includes a second lap of the same route.There were several water stations on the race and a few well-placed Lucozade hydration zones – including a very well placed one at around mile 12. The crowd support was thin on the ground, with very few locals on hand to cheer us on. I don’t blame anyone for that because the clocks going forward probably didn’t offer them much incentive to get out of bed! That said, the race marshals were exceptionally friendly and supportive, offering words of encouragement as we passed them. There were also members of the army clapping and cheering. I ran the first two miles with my friend Karen, who was in training for the Virgin London Marathon and nursing a sore knee, so we took it easy whilst she tried her best not to aggravate the problem. My husband Eddie, who has a habit of hardly doing any training and still being faster than me (how do men get away with that?), ran with me for the first 8.2 miles then headed off for a coffee and a chocolate croissant while I stayed on. I also ran most of the race with my boss Nick, pumping him for last-minute marathon tips. Nick has completed four marathons and is modest about his achievements but if pressed for advice, has lots of wise words for anyone getting ready for their first 26.2-mile distance. Mainly his wisdom consists of quotes like: ‘It’s a huge commitment and it takes over your life’ – I wish I had listened to that a bit more intently six months ago!I felt good for most of the race but my butt and hamstrings felt very stiff from mile 12 onwards. A brief glute stretch at mile 14 worked wonders and enabled me to notch up my speed a bit more for the last few miles. I know many runners hate stopping but a quick stretch really did make a difference.At the end of the race, we received a mug and a few energy bars – apparently the goody bags had long gone by the time I crossed the line, but it was nice to be cheered by locals who had surfaced to applaud runners finishing.Whole Foods Market Breakfast Run is a well-organised event for those preparing for a marathon. It’s just a shame that it clashed with the clocks going forward, but at least it meant we were finished by lunchtime and tucking into fresh Paninis by midday. Well, a girl’s got to have some kind of a reward after all that hard work!