running – The Cultural Exposé

This running life: here’s how I plan to smash the Royal Parks half marathon this October

Matilda — Mon, 02 May 2016 07:00:51 +0000

I’m a runner – fact. But not a very strong one. Fact. And by that, I mean I can put one foot in front of the other and by God’s good grace, run the distance that a race requires of me: 5k, 10k, 13.1 miles, 26.2 – you name it, I’ll do my best. But after running Tokyo marathon in February and pretty much finishing in the same time I achieved for my first marathon last year (note: I thought I’d be at LEAST 5 minutes faster, womp womp), I’ve realised I need to be alot more serious about my strength training, as well as my nutrition. Still, most of my lightbulb moments mean absolutely nothing without a goal, so I’ve decided that May is the month I put my new fitness goals into the action. Here’s the plan:

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!

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Running in style: the Beats By Dre Powerbeats 2 Wireless earphones

Matilda — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 09:13:21 +0000

Last night I went to Tobacco Dock to join runners from across London (and in fact, the world) for the very first Beats 1 Run, a casual 5k taking place in four cities at the same time, powered by a live Beats 1 Radio show – salute Samantha Ronson! – and a complimentary set of the Beats By Dre Powerbeats 2 Wireless earphones. You can imagine, I was pretty delighted – and not only because I’ve needed wireless headphones for the absolute longest and these bad boys delivered on quality and style last night. It was the fact that my earphones came in lime green and gray, perfectly matching my Karrimor RP14 running pack I’ll be using religiously next month when I start training for Tokyo Marathon. Did I mention I got a ballot place? The race is on 28th February, which means winter training, which means I’ll need all sorts of motivation, including matchy-matchy running gear. So thanks Beats By Dre!

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What we’ve been up to… cheering at the London Marathon, Mile 21

Matilda — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 10:00:59 +0000

For the past three years, my running collective Run Dem Crew has set up camp at Mile 21 along the London Marathon route to bring good vibes to the thousands taking on the challenge. Yesterday’s “cheerathon” was nothing short of epic, filled with laughs, tears and even a cameo from the mighty Mo Farah! Check out some of our pics from the day below:

The next London running events on our calendar is the We Own the Night: Nike Women’s 10k Run on 10th May and the Run Hackney Half Marathon on 22nd June. For more info, visit: www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/c/running/we-own-the-night and www.runhackney.com

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What we’ve been up to… cheering at the London Marathon 2013

Matilda — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:00:23 +0000

In light of last week’s Boston bombings, this year’s London Marathon took on a whole new meaning, giving runners in the capital an opportunity to show solidarity to remember those affected. A 30 second silence was held at the start of the race, before 36,000 runners began the 26.2 mile challenge, watched by a reported 700,000 spectators (a record!) who lined the streets at various points along the course. As a member of Run Dem Crew, I made a beeline for Mile 21 – between Westferry and Limehouse – where “cheerdemcrew” members set up camp to support everyone who hit this milestone. With great weather and plenty of amusing costumes to spot, it was a joyous occasion, so check out some of the pics from the day, just below:

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What we’ve been up to… RDC Mission Impossible at The Water Poet (July 14th)

Matilda — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:00:08 +0000

If you’ve been following TCé long enough, you’ll know that every week I get my run on in London with a brilliant collective of creatives known as Run Dem Crew. Pioneered by DJ/poet Charlie Dark, the past year has seen RDC soar with plenty of press mentions, the growth of projects like the RDC Youngers mentoring programme, Bridge the Gap – an incredible movement where the flyest international crews unite to run major races – and now Run Dem Crew West, their newish Monday night meet-up for any beginner runners keen to get involved.

Co-led by Cory Malcolm-Wharton (aka @bitbeefy on Twitter) and Ellie Wood, RDC West has inspired novices to run all sorts of races – from local comps in Peckham to cross-country 10 milers out of town (like Dorking?) – and last Saturday, they debuted RDC Mission Imposssible, their first citywide treasure hunt for “runners, walkers and joggers”.

Trafalgar Square

We started from The Water Poet in Spitalfields and the challenge was to get to 50 known landmark in 3 hours with a team of up to 4 people. Oysters weren’t allowed and all team members needed to be in the snap holding up an RDC sign while a member of the public took the photo (word of advice: never ask a pensioner to take your photo with an iPhone – it ain’t happening!)

Buckingham Palace

We were completely knackered by the end of it, having ticked off 34 out of 50 landmarks (and clocked over 13 miles, nearly the distance of a half-marathon!) – but it was such a brilliant day. We got to explore the capital, there were medals, t-shirts and goodie bags for everyone, the deserving winners won a great trophy and it was novel way to spend a Saturday with likeminded people who understand that running can be a very cool (and fun!) thing to do. Now on to the next mission!

To keep up with the Run Dem Crew, visit www.rundemcrew.com

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