Paris Marathon: Training Update and Tips

As some of you may know, I ran my first marathon in April 2014 in Paris. The whole journey was one of the toughest and craziest experiences of my life. I might be absolutely mad, but I'm going back to Paris in 2015 to do it again, and training is already underway!

I thought I would give a little bit of an update as to how my training is going and what I've been up to running wise. 

I've been officially training since December 1st and have put together a training plan for myself on an Excel spreadsheet. It generally consists of 4 runs a week, with 2 mid-distance, 1 long and 1 short recovery run. The plan was made from a template I found on about.com, but I changed the days around a little to suit my lifestyle and just used it as a guide to what sort of distances I should be aiming for.  

So far, I've stuck to the plan pretty well and even done a bit extra with my 'JingleRun' challenge of running at least 1 mile each day up until Christmas. My long run this week was a 10km in 25 degree New Zealand heat.. which was ridiculous, but absolutely beautiful! I've added some pictures down below. It's definitely a bit different to the dark and freezing runs I've been doing in the UK. 

Having done this once before now, my main training tips are: 

• Always listen to your bodyIf you're not feeling well and you have a run on your training plan, postpone it and do it when you're better. Just because you miss a run doesn't mean you won't finish the race!
• Practise your race nutrition
  I like the High5 Energy Gels (the ones without caffeine), but everyone has their own preferences. Take some time during your training runs to find out what works for you.
• Have a dress rehearsal
  Figure out what clothing works best for you so you know what to run in for race day. Never run in brand new clothes though! Make sure you take them out for a training run or two to make sure they're going to work for race day.