Meadows marathon diary 2009: week 1

Although I am a regular runner and have competed in fun runs and 10ks, I tend to let myself go and dramatically reduce my running during the winter months. I am not one for the cold weather and hibernate between October and February.

But not this year. I am determined to get in good shape and achieve a good time for my biggest run yet – and I will be regular on the Meadows over the next month, training for the Meadows Marathon 2009.

This year's event takes place on 15 March and, as press manager for the event, I am attempting to persuade many friends and family to compete, mostly through the use of patronising phrases: Iit’s only a few times around the meadows…it won’t kill you…”. So far, I have been rather impolitely told “no” by all.

So, in early January I increased my training in preparation for the marathon, leaping on my moral high horse and berating all those lazy people who had refused to do something to raise money for charity – as well as being so good for your health.

I have since discovered that it’s a few times more around the meadows than I had originally thought. However, never one to shy away from a challenge, I was, honestly, beginning enjoying pushing myself that little bit further. Or at least I was until the snow came and the weather turned that little bit colder. Although running in a heat wave is hardly desirable, running in temperatures close to those in the Arctic Circle is not either.

So this week I have run once. It took a lot of effort to prise myself away from my seat in front of the fire and put my cup of tea down to venture outside and run five times around and around the meadows on frosty and icy paths.

Yet, very strangely, once I had dragged myself away from the warmth of my flat and walked the 30 seconds it takes to get to the edge of the meadows (yes, I really have no excuse not to run!) and started my first trip around, I actually enjoyed it.

Yes, I may have looked liked an idiot in my gloves and hoody and hat zigzagging across the paths to avoid precarious icy and frosty sections, and I am sure that more than one person thought “What an idiot…”

But, if you are new to running and are considering running this half marathon then starting your training during this cold spell is probably a good plan. You won’t sweat as much and, what's more, you'll have an increased desire to run faster in order not to freeze to death. And walking at any point is out of the question, unless you want to end up as a frozen addition to the Meadows scenery.

So over the next month I will be increasing my routine to near enough Sandhurst-like standards in the hope of achieving a super fast time – or at least being able to run all the way without stopping.