• I’m going to run Royal Parks Half Marathon in October and in the words of my pal Cory “duppy da ting”.  To me, that means achieving a time of 1:45 or less. I’ve run Royal Parks a few years ago, and it’s such a gorgeous race that covers some of the best parts of the westside of central London so it’ll be a real pleasure to run it again, especially with an aim in mind.
• I’ve joined a new gym (the super-fresh Gymbox), where I plan to do three strength training classes a week (the recommended number to get results, so I’ve been told), plus a cardio  session.

A photo posted by Matilda (@megerecooper) on Apr 20, 2016 at 11:37am PDT

• I’ll be using a fitness diary via Medium to keep me in check.
• And I’ll keep an eye on my progress with a FitBit Blaze. It’s one of the new ones on the market and while it does all the usual stuff of clocking your activity, blood pressure and sleep, it can also alert you to your text messages and phone calls. Madness. It’s basically the Apple Watch of Fitness (but why I need to know I’ve got a text or call in the middle of pumping out a set of burpees is anyone’s guess). I’ve been trialling it out over the last few weeks and couldn’t for the life of me figure it out, but I’ve slowly got the hang of it and look forward to seeing how it’ll help me stay focused.

Do you have any major fitness goals this spring? Let me know in the comments! 

The post This running life: here’s how I plan to smash the Royal Parks half marathon this October appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Pre-race – the training

I downloaded a Bupa training plan and the Nike + GPS app to ensure I was putting in enough miles every week to enable me to build up my fitness and strength to run as far as 13.1 miles. Tuesday nights was dedicated to running with Run Dem Crew, while Sundays were for Long Runs – the serious distance treks around London that at one point saw me run to Tower Bridge from Marble Arch (!). Here’s an “interesting” sight I saw on a 6 mile Long Run:

Diet wise, I tried to guzzle as much water as I could daily (emphasis on “tried”, but it’s advisable to have a least a litre a day), while I also tried to load up on the fruit, vegetables and carbs.

12-weeks later, in Berlin

I arrived Friday afternoon (March 30th) having flown Swiss Air from City Airport (I couldn’t get a RyanAir flight, which wouldn’t have been half the price and half the travelling time!) and made my way to the Ostel Hostel, recommended by a fellow RDC member and the Guardian. It’s a quirky spot that was quick and cheap to get to from Tegel airport (only 5.60 Euros for both a bus and train) – but the only downside is that it gets very noisy at night due to thin walls and you could easily pass on the breakfast they offer for 7.50Euros. The closest station is Ostbahnhof which offers plenty of places to eat, so a few of us had breakfast at the American sports bar Play Off . As for my first impressions of Berlin – there’s definitely an arty and exciting vibe, with alot of graffiti around (which I’ve been told is encouraged) – and food is so CHEAP! My Euros have been stretching quite nicely…

As the race was on Sunday, the rest of Friday and Saturday was dedicated to taking it easy – so walked along the Berlin wall…

… and eventually stumbled across an authentic Italian restaurant called Osteria Number 1 (a Time Out critic’s choice) in the Kreuzberg area where I went for the Diavola pizza (on the left):

Unbelievably it HAILED on Saturday afternoon (freak weather), so that was pretty much a write-off…but later in the evening, we went to another Italian at the very chic Ossena…

Sunday – The Race Day

I was semi-nervous, semi-excited, but as I came to Germany as a member of Run Dem Crew, we were hooked up with our own lounge and Bag Drop at the Bar Barbette on Karl Marx Allee, just metres from the starting line, so that helped settle any last minute nervous (plus they laid on breakfast, which is what I needed!)

As nearly 30,000 people were taking part in what has been described as one of world’s leading races, we were divided into starting blocks (pro and experience runners were in blocks A-D, newbies in block E) – and the atmosphere was just electric, while were were fortunate to have good weather (crisp, but sunny)…

I took a steady pace, taking in the sights I ran past like the Brandenburger Tor, Siegessaule, and the Schloss Charlottenburg . I’d be lying if I said it was easy (there were a few false finish lines that had me sprinting when I shouldn’t have), but I was happy to complete the course non-stop in 2 hours and 7 minutes!

Run Dem Crew later celebrated at the Soju Bar, an intimate and Korean-inspired hangout and hotspot that’s another Guardian favourite, and features a Korean restaurant Kimchi Princess next door.

Overall, it’s been a brilliant weekend (all hail the city break!), and I plan to visit Berlin again to take in more of the city – and if you ever fancy getting into running to conquer a half-marathon yourself, below are a few website recommendations:

Spike and Heels – Bangs And A Bun’s new fitness website for badass women

Run Dem Crew – I love founder Charlie Dark’s mission to inspire people through running – and since joining last July, I’ve enjoyed being a part of the movement. Membership for the next season opens later this month, but for more info visit Run Dem Crew

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