GCAM 2017 HERE I COOOOMEEEE!

Ahhhh so excited to share this news with you!

But first, let me apologize. I did not post on Monday, even though I did actually have a draft written out from the weekend, but if you saw my Facebook or Instagram, you probably saw that I was reaaaaaly sick last weekend, and it wiped me out so bad that other than visiting the bathroom frequently (which making it there was a marathon in itself), I did not leave the couch for over 32 hours. It was one of those NASTY bugs that has you throwing up every two hours (as well as the other part….), and I was totally and completely exhausted for a few days after as I didn’t eat for about 30 hours.

Therefore, attempting to read and edit a blog post was not gonna happen.

You may not mind my rambles, and I don’t really change much when I re-read it, but I hadn’t even spell checked it.

Trust me, you didn’t want that.

BUT, I am back now, and feeling back to normal. In fact I actually bounced back a LOT quicker than I thought I would, and I my theory is because my body is fat adapted, so even though I burned through my carb stores during that sickness, my body was able to run on fat stores for a few days while I built those carb stores back up again.

May be completely wrong, but that is my theory.

Anyway, YES, onto the AMAZING NEWS!

I am officially running the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia on July 2nd!!!

Ahhhh that video gives me chills!

Every day since the beginning of the year, I have checked my email first thing for an email from Gold Coast Marathon (or GCAM as I will now refer to it), hoping that they decided they would like to have me in their elite field, and could help me get there.

Every day I would feel sad when I didn’t see it, but in the same way I felt about running for Great Britain in the World Half Marathon, I knew deep in my heart that this would be the race I would be focusing on this year. Steve and I never gave up hope, and yesterday morning, we received the email saying that my dream is coming true.

I cannot wait for this race, and it gives me plenty of time for all these little mini setbacks to give me a break so I can give my legs a chance to get back under me (as you can imagine, not eating for 30 hours is not ideal for running, so we had to move a lot around this week).

How does my training look now?

Well, now we know what race I am focused on for the year, we can get a good chunk of speed work in now, before being a rabbit (pacemaker) for the London Marathon (April 23) as a final hard effort. I will be pacing the 2:28 group through at least 13 miles, but if I can make it up to 20, I get paid substantially more 😉

After that, we will take a few days off, and then build up to the marathon on the 2nd July.

Steve, Drew, and I will be finalizing the details of my training over the coming months, but actually, these mini setbacks have been kinda good as they have allowed my body to get really strong in the weight room, which helps my running form to stay together on the runs. I am not sure what Drew has in mind over the coming months, but we are going to meet up and talk about it tomorrow 🙂

Speaking of Drew:

Drew and I are actually going to work on a 6 week strength training program for runners, so stay tuned, as I think you are going to LOVE what he comes up with.

I am flying home to England this Sunday to meet my new niece Charlotte, so will be at home for the next month. My new website redesign should be live soon, and I really appreciate your patience with it, but I hope you think it is worth it.

Now:

If you live in Australia, is there any way you can come watch me race Gold Coast? I realize that a flight could be like 6 hours away, but if you live anywhere within the area and could make it, that would be AMAZING! Obviously if you live elsewhere and want to come, that would be amazing too!

I will be documenting my journey along the way, but unfortunately Steve and my parents will be unable to attend (although, I think I have convinced some family and friends to come), having people to cheer would be wonderful.

Thanks for the patience while I go through all these big life changes, it really means so much 🙂

What is a marathon you have always wanted to do? What can I share about GCAM along my journey that you would like to hear about?