Caroline Crehan writes
Hello everyone!! - this is my first Eagles Blog and I’m feeling the pressure. But very excited to be sharing my training story with everyone here. I wanted to start by saying a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who’s already donated to my fundraising page so far – what a fab start! I am already ¼ of the way to my £1000 target! Hurray!! I think there may be potential to push the target up to £2000 if things go well so keep those donations coming for the wonderful charity that is Meningitis Now: https://tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/caroline-crehan-81410 .
As for my training, we are 3 week’s into our training plans… BUT …for me I am tapering for the epic Snowdonia Marathon next Sunday. I had booked this well before I even knew I was in London, with the aim of doing a destination marathon, that was more about scenery and natural beauty than running on roads at a perfectly calculated pace. I’ve suffered badly with shin splints in the past, so the idea of training off road really appealed to me. Now that I am signed up to London too – Snowdon will have to be the first proper ‘long run’ in my London training programme. Slightly unconventional but running 26 miles around and then up a mountain, will definitely put London in perspective! I’ve never been to Snowdon before, so it’s going to be brilliant way to experience the mountain for the first time.
To train for Snowdon I’ve been squeezing in as much off-road training as I can, around work and travel, over the last 3 months. Highlights have included a New Forest trail half with wild ponies & llamas in March. In April, during a work trip to Malawi, I trained with ‘The Runners on the move’, a running club in Lilongwe. For me I really love running because it’s a great opportunity to see places and meeting people. I think it’s wonderful how there are running clubs in most cities of the world to join in with.
I also took on the mighty and beautiful Zomba plateau, in the southern region of Malawi and one of my favourite places in the world. I’ve worked on projects in hospitals in Zomba and Lilongwe, on and off over the last 7 years, so Malawi is a place very dear to my heart.
In May, I did the vitality 10k with some Eagles (& some west 4’s) and did it in my PB time of 44 minutes. This was reassuring that my training was going well. Whilst at a paediatric infectious diseases conference in Athens, I did a fun run around the first ever Olympic stadium. I have to say, it was very cool to run in the footsteps of ancient Olympians of old (for Ukrainian kids) & get a wreath crown at the end! (Bonus!!):
Other training races have included a beautiful trail half around Thorney Island on the South Coast. This was super flat, so to get some more serious hills into my legs, I’ve been running up and down the Jurassic coast cliffs, avoiding cow pats – there were lots!.
In and around all my adventures away I’ve of course been trying to attend as many Eagles sessions as I can. Hills at Hanger Hill Park with Wei Hei and company, last week, was pretty fun. We Just about managed to maintain our pace with each rep despite the terrible humidity that day! My longest training run for Snowdon turned out to be an 18-miler extension of a Monday club run a few weeks ago ☺. I started in Gunners with a flock of Eagles, then ran over Kew Bridge to Richmond Park, and bombed it up and down the big hill in the middle of the park by the ballet school. There was a huge orange wolf moon low in the sky that evening and stags were eyeing me up as I ran past in the dusk. A memorable run to say the least.
So anyway, I think that’s enough from me so far, more to come next week as the anticipation builds for Snowdon. Thanks again for any donations! They are hugely appreciated.