blog — Ashley James

I’ve talked about it for months, and I have finally done it. That’s right, I ran the Bath Half Marathon! At the beginning of January I could barely run for a month, and I managed to complete the run and keep up with my friend, Kye Sones.

If you have a run coming up, then I would recommend you read my previous post where personal trainer Laura Sherriff offered me some tips and tricks for the day before and day of the run. I thought I’d tell you about the day and also offer some of the tips I’ve picked up from my experience and from training.

I drove down the night before with my friend and singer Kye Sones, and we arrived at the Tracy Country Club and Golf Spa in the evening. It’s a beautiful place and it’s a shame we didn’t have longer there to enjoy the grounds.

We woke up relatively early (mainly due to nerves) on Sunday morning, and had a nice breakfast before doing some press photos and interviews before the race.

It was my first time in Bath and it made the run so much more enjoyable as it’s such a beautiful city, it kept me distracted from the run itself. There were also some amazing bands and music spread out along the course which was a very welcome distraction.

The run was relatively easy until the last two miles, which was honestly the hardest 17 minutes of my life. I thought I was going to pass out or be sick when I was running towards the finish line. Thank god I wasn’t - although running through it made me feel even more proud of myself! Not only did I do it, but I did it in under 2 hours, and managed to keep up with my friend, Kye Sones, the whole way.

Tips and Tricks

Laura gave me her advice in my previous post, and I didn’t listen: Don’t change anything the day before you run. I put on some brand new running leggings, and they were too big. That meant I spent the entire time having to pull them up. It was super annoying.

Cut your toe nails! This probably sounds gross and a little obvious, but I didn’t and my toes cut each other.

Motivation

The Nike Running App. This app has been a saving grace for me. I am extremely competitive and being able to see how far my friends have run makes me want to get out there (and run more than them). You can also see how fast you have ran each mile, how many calories you’ve burnt - so whatever your motivation is you can track it with the app. I particularly like that you can sync music playlists to it as well.

Joining the gym. I joined the Nuffield gym in Surbiton. Not only is it the most beautiful gym I’ve ever seen it’s got so many great classes that on the days I couldn’t be bothered to go for a run, I could try out different classes or go for a chilled swim. It’s silly but being in a fitness environment encouraged me to want to keep exercising, and I could treat myself to a sauna afterwards.

Diet

I cannot recommend a Nutribullet enough. It has encouraged me to eat healthier as drinks and soups are so easy to make. I got some wheatgrass, maca, and spirulina powder which means it’s really easy to add super foods into your food too. Having a better diet meant I had more energy, but also better hair and skin too.

The Outfit

I had never paid much attention to sports gear until I started my Bath Half Marathon training and there’s actually some really nice stuff out there.

I’ve always had relatively big boobs, so exercise has been a bit of an ordeal. I used to wear a normal bra, a sports bra, and a top with a built in bra to run, and I’d still be so paranoid the movement would stretch or damage anything and cause sageness later in life. I came across Freya’s sports bra and it is genuinely the best thing ever. I ran the entire half marathon in only that and felt no movement or had any redness around my chest - I even managed to avoid any awful nipple chaffage!

I popped down the the Covent Garden Reebok store and got some amazing things there, including my running trainers that I’ve actually been wearing out and about in the day time as they are so comfortable. Their store is called a Fitness Hub and they have different free classes there throughout the week so I’d recommend checking them out - it would save you money on going to the gym!

CoppaFeel!

As you may or may not know, I ran the Bath Half for CoppaFeel! which is a breast cancer awareness charity. It’s a really ambitious charity that is very close to my heart, which you can read about on my justgiving page. Thank you for everyone who sponsored me.

Let me know if you read this and found it interesting or have any other advice or brands you think I should check out. I also have the running bug, and don’t want to lose my motivation, so if you know of any other great runs in the UK then let me know as I’m going to sign myself up.

Until next time… x