Lotty's First Marathon

Lotty, Healthy Habit's Member of the Year 2022, unfortuneatly broke her foot soon after she recieved the reward. After the few sets backs in recovery, while lying in bed, she started plannng her come back.. of course she did! What better than to run a marathon! Here is how she did it:

Why on earth did you decide to run a marathon?

I have been wanting to do one for years but always thought I was not strong enough. Also thought the training plan would mean you needed to run hours on end which always felt really daunting and impossible!

But then I broke my ankle last year and after not being able to move for 6 months (and being a grumpy bitch!), all I wanted to do is run run run!! Catch up for lost time! So I started to look at training plans and was surprised to see that it looked manageable and that the build up is only to 2 weeks of these crazy long runs in a row, then tapering down again. 

I found a training plan that also incorporated a half marathon so decided to sign up for the Sydney half marathon in May this year, and the Gold Coast Marathon in July.

What training did you do for it?

I started my training plan in February which meant I had 5 months. I wanted to make sure I build it up very slowly as was very worried I would injure myself again as still needed to build up strength in my leg due to broken ankle. I tried to do 3 bootcamp session a week with sometimes a run before or after and then Cynthia’s running speed session’s on Wednesday morning. And long run on the weekend. 

What was difficult about the whole experience and what was the best part?

Some training weeks are harder when work is hectic or you have a lot on. Or you are simply tired. I was worried that when I missed a run it would set me back. But I actually found that a long run can also feel easier if you have given yourself a little break when needed.

Also, I thought that continuing training when I had to go for work overseas was going to be impossible. But completely surprised myself when I was able to run 51km in a week on a treadmill. In the past I could not run any longer than 20min on a treadmill as it’s so bloody boring! But I managed at one point to run 2 hours. All you need is a good Netflix series!!

And the best part was of course the race. The crowd was amazing! Complete strangers call out your name all along the race which I have never experienced before in Sydney! It just put a massive smile on my face all through the race and really helped me make it till the end, especially the last 10k when it started to get really hard. Although my legs hurt like hell, it felt like such an achievement to cross that line..

What advice would you give to anyone who is thinking about running a marathon? 

It is possible!!! Especially with the HHF sessions as they mix up strength and running at the same time. Strength is just as important as the running part to avoid injuries. You just need to download a training plan that works with your day to day life. You really don’t need to run every day of the week in order to be able to run a marathon. You just need to get in to a routine. And invest in good running shoes is a must!

Would you do another one? 

YES!! I will be running the Sydney Marathon in September! No stopping now! 😂

And then need to work out what I will be running next year. Definitely considering Gold Coast again! Maybe we can create a HHF team??

Any further comments?

A few HHF’s will be running their very first Marathon in Sydney in September so never too late to join! 11 weeks left! 😊