**A few months ago a very strange thing happened to me – I turned 40. Well not that strange you might think but trust me, when it happens to you (if it hasn’t already) you’ll know what I mean. **
One minute you’re celebrating your 21st birthday and thinking your 40-something parents are ancient and then in the blink of an eye you’re starring at a cake with so many candles you’re worried it will set off the smoke alarm.
So to counteract the horror, I decided to set myself a challenge to prove I wasn’t over the hill just yet.
Having run a lot in my 20s and early 30s - I settled on a half marathon. I decided a full marathon was probably a bit ambitious given I had had only 12 weeks to train and I hadn’t even caught sight of my running trainers since before I was pregnant with my now, two-year-old daughter.
I chose the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon because it takes you past many of London’s most familiar landmarks including Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and through some of the capital’s most beautiful parks: Hyde Park, Green Park, Kenginsgton Gardens and St James Park.
I followed a training schedule, which consisted of three short mid-week runs and a longer run on Saturdays and actually found getting up to run before work pretty enjoyable – probably because I trained through July, August, and September when it’s light and often warm at 6am.
The weeks zipped past and before I knew it I was heading to Hyde Park on race day.
I completed the 13.1miles in one hour and 55 minutes – a little bit slower than I aimed for but I have to say I was pretty chuffed – and I managed to raise over £800 for a local cat shelter, http://www.caring-for-animals.org/so I made a few felines happy too.
And best of all its definitely helped me come to terms with the big 4-0!
For more info on the Royal Parks Foundation half marathon visit: https://royalparkshalf.com/