Preparation for Norfolk marathon 

When talking to a regular at a local park run after volunteering, I found out that she has entered the Norfolk marathon. I asked some questions surrounding her past in running and how she is preparing for the upcoming marathon. The Norfolk marathon is popular and sold out quickly, it is taking place on April 28th 2024. 

 

How long have you been running for?

When asked, she stated that she had been running for around 7 years and fancied a new challenge. In the past she has done half marathons and other shorter distances but wanted to hit a new milestone which led her towards the marathon.

 

How did you get into running?

Lots of people get into running in different ways, some see it as a social event if they go to a park run or have joined a club, other people want to participate in a more competitive way. This particular person started going to parkrun as a social event and quickly came into contact with people who were part of a club and encouraged her to join it. Since then she has participated in races and been a part of a few different clubs who have helped her become a better runner. 

 

What made you want to run a marathon?

Like a lot of people, she wants to have a new challenge to look forward to and after never running that distance before, was curious to see how she would find it and if it is achievable. Another reason that this person wanted to run a marathon is because it is her home county and she is familiar with the area and knows some of the people who are also going to run it. This is also part of the motivation to run, knowing there will be people she knows and who know her. 

 

How many times a week do you train for it?

Tying in two nights a week training with a club, training consists of five runs a week.These vary from easy runs at the beginning of the week, to steady runs to ones that are faster. On Sunday there are scheduled group runs that she participates in and they are always the longer runs that many people participate in. 

 

How to stay motivated when training?

One way that she stays motivated to keep running and training is by running with a group of people that all have the same aim. Having that group of people motivates you to keep on running and go a train so it will pay off in the long run. Another way to stay motivated is to set a date and time you are going to run with people, this really helped her because she knew it was coming up and knew people would be meeting in a certain place and she wouldn’t have to run alone, having a structured routine prevents any uncertainty.