- I made the mistake of not going to the toilet
before this run and now I'm holding back.
You know what?
- Godfrey, your form wasn't actually that bad.
I thought it was gonna be a lot worse.
- Running in the rain is not fun.
Like every step I'm farting.
(gasping)
(samba music plays)
Hey everyone, it's your boy, Godfrey.
And in 30 days, I'm gonna be running a half marathon.
I like to keep fit, but I'm not a runner,
so I'm only gonna do a half marathon,
just to see what it's like.
This is gonna be a tough journey
but I can't wait to get started.
Hopefully I get to learn some new things, shed some pounds,
meet some interesting people.
And the most important thing is that I finish the race.
Okay, so it's 7:00 AM, and I'm about to do my first run
which is gonna be my benchmark, right?
To see how fast I can go or what my speed is.
We'll see if I make an improvement in the next thirty days.
Today I'm gonna do something I never done before.
I'm gonna go into a running shop,
and I'm gonna get my gait analysis.
They check your stride, and how you run, basically.
- [Shop Owner] Stay on the treadmill,
run as natural as possible.
All right, let's have a look at you.
- [Godfrey] So, the point of a gait analysis
- [Shop Owner] Is to find out how you land.
Do you land heel to toe, or flat, or toe?
You're borderline mid to toe, and your left foot slightly
rotates inward when you strike.
You just need a bit of support
for that left foot, because the longer you run for,
the more tired that foot gets, the more rotation.
When that arch drops, ankle goes in,
knee goes in, hip goes in.
If you don't get your feet straight,
everything else will be affected.
So I would say that you need a support shoe.
- Going to the running shop was super insightful.
I found out things I never knew I needed to know
about my running style, like my left leg.
It's the weekend, and it's early in the morning,
and I'm running.
Do I wanna be running?
No, but I've got three weeks left and it's gotta be done.
Come on, let's get it.
You know what I noticed, when you're a runner,
other runners acknowledge you.
It's quite nice.
They nod, they say hello.
I've had a few of them say good morning to me.
It's nice.
Another day of training.
But today it's flipping raining.
So, running in the rain is not fun.
However, I will say it keeps you cool, which is nice.
They're here.
I've got my new running shoes straight from Hoka,
Hoka, whatever you say, however you pronounce it.
Let's see what they've sent me,
my new running shoes, the new Bondi eights.
Can't wait to get these on the road.
Hi, it's my first one with my new running sneakers.
They feel good, they got good ankle support, nice and light.
They got good cushion, and I would say
they got loads of grip, so they help on these roads.
But let's see if they help with my running time.
Maybe running 10K with my brand new shoes was a mistake.
Yep, I should have broken them in a little bit
before going for a big run.
But what can I do.
You live and you learn.
Today I'm meeting up with a track athlete
to see what my running form and technique's saying,
and also what any kind of running tips
that she might be able to give me.
This will be either fun or I'm gonna get rinsed.
- Hello, my name's Hayley McLean,
I'm a 400 meter hurdler for Great Britain.
I've been competing and training
for around 16 years now.
For a warmup, if you're new,
I would say just do a couple minutes' jog
warm up just to get your body flowing,
get everything moving and see if something's hurting
and how you feel.
I prefer doing dynamic stretches to static,
again it keeps your body moving and you don't get as cold
if you're just sitting around stretching.
I would say hips. Keep doing your hips.
People forget that you use your hips a lot when you run.
People think just stretching your calves
and everything, and ankles as well.
Ankles can get quite stiff.
So for running, I think a good form
would be to try and keep your posture upright
or slightly tilted forward.
So I was always told to sort of think
about your arm action when you run,
and that way your legs will follow and you'll run forward.
So the force will go forward rather than side to side.
Again, saving time and energy.
I would definitely say don't neglect a warm down.
It's probably more important than a warm up
If you haven't got a lot of time
and you've gotta rush off back to work,
really pick stretches
that you are sort of focusing on lots of muscles
all at once.
- Hayley, I'm dreadful.
- Wow.
So, I'm gonna say that's one that you probably need to do.
- Yeah.
- Every night?
- It's the morning and I'm about to go on a run
longer than 10K.
So, that means I need to make sure I have a bowel movement.
I know that sounds weird but if you didn't know,
when you go for long runs,
there is a chance you could soil yourself.
So I don't want that to happen.
So I'm gonna make myself a coffee,
so I can make sure I go to the toilet.
Now that I've done a few long runs,
I've noticed that there's something that really annoys me,
and that is my phone.
It's just you, you know,
you just wanna feel free when you're running.
So I've got myself a running vest,
so now when I'm running, my hands are free.
Ain't gotta worry about nothing.
There's no jumping about from your phone,
or anything like that.
Shoutout to Freetrain. Woo. Feels good.
I made the mistake of not going to the toilet
before this run and now I'm holding back.
And you know what?
I've been running a lot recently
and my legs are really hurting, especially my calves.
They just hurt.
So I thought, let me try a different form of recovery,
and I've been seeing this everywhere online.
I've seen loads of different athletes use it.
So I thought, why don't I get myself one
and see if this helps.
I feel like this thing really helps get rid of the soreness.
I feel it instantly, like it's not as sore as they were.
I feel like it's just like,
it's kind of massaged all the knots out and stuff like that.
I do really like this thing.
I think I'm gonna be using it after every session.
Maybe not after every session, in the evenings before bed.
Just get rid of that soreness on them doms.
I'm just kind of gutted I didn't get this any earlier.
Today's my longest run before my race.
I'm not looking forward to it.
I only just started it.
And I'm feeling it already.
It's been a tough couple of days.
I need to get this long run out the way.
So then I build myself up,
in the next week I'm gonna taper off and lower,
decrease my run distances,
get myself ready for race week.
Today is the day I've been dreading the most.
It is not the race, it's the dreaded ice bath.
- An ice bath's always a great one.
- [Godfrey] I'm not doing an ice bath.
- Even just a cold bath is always beneficial.
Just gets the blood flowing straight away
to all your muscles.
- [Godfrey] Yeah, yeah.
Good for my recovery apparently.
Especially after long runs.
Oh boy. I'm shook.
I'm gonna aim for 10 minutes,
and see where where it gets me.
Ah, ah.
- [Camerawoman] It's good for you.
- Oh.
I'm scared to get my bum in.
I'm scared.
It hurts, it hurts my feet.
Nah, oh it hurts.
It's nothing I felt before in my life.
Come on.
(breathes deeply)
Breathing actually helps.
I focus on my breath, not the pain.
Ah, wow.
Oh, I can't even feel my legs.
Look, I'm wiping my legs, but there's no feeling.
Ice bath was something I've never experienced in my life.
The pain in my feet, I've not felt that before, ever.
Did it relieve some pain or muscle soreness?
I think so, maybe,
'cause I can't even feel my legs.
Like, that's how numb my legs are.
But, so we'll see.
We'll see if there was any benefit to it.
But ice bath, check.
So I'm in Ireland, I gotta keep up my training,
there's no days off.
But look at this view.
It is my last run until the race.
So I'm gonna use this to recover,
and kind of just like,
prep myself for a big day, so, let's go.
Race day's finally here,
it's like 6:30 in the morning,
and I've gotta have my breakfast
to make sure I get some good food in me
before the big race.
So let's go.
So, I'm here now at Hyde Park.
I'm just gonna get warmed up, and fingers crossed.
- I've got my running vest.
Got my number, and underneath I've got my training vest.
And I've got my gels ready.
Got one gel up here.
I've got another gel up here. Ready.
- [Announcer] Parks half marathon.
- Starting the race. Let's go!
First mile down. I'm round Buckingham Palace.
I'm feeling good, still warming up, and let's go.
Probably the most scenic route I've ever run.
That's Buckingham Palace,
behind me, look at that.
Two miles in, just passed Westminster. Ooh.
Okay, here we go.
(crowd cheering)
Just passed the four mile mark,
my hip's trying to hurt, starting to hurt.
So, and my calves are feeling it, but let's go.
Come on, keep pushing.
Just crossing the halfway mark.
Feeling tired.
I know I'm smiling, but that's just my run face.
Just so happy.
I tried taking one of them energy gels,
and I can't stop farting.
It's like every step I farting. Oh.
The final stretch. My legs are sore.
All this training has paid off.
That's the 11 mile mark. Two more miles to go.
Let's go.
Final stretch.
800 meters to go. All these people waiting.
That's amazing.
Just finished my race.
Hopefully I've done it under two hours,
which is my goal but I'm glad I just finished,
my legs started cramping towards the end.
So I'm just happy I finished it.
30 days and a half marathon later.
Here I am, I'm still sore from the race, I'm recovering,
but, a half marathon was a worthwhile experience.
It's definitely something that I recommend people doing.
I do recommend running.
I feel like I've caught the bug now
I'm gonna continue running after this.
Now that the race is done, I can say,
I can happily say I did beat my goal.
My time was one hour 59 and 32 seconds
which is just on, under the mark.
I'm so happy.
I hope this video was as much inspiring
for you as it was for me.
And if you do like this kind of content
make sure you like, comment, subscribe,
and if you wanna see me try another challenge for 30 days,
let me know in the comments section below,
and we'll see if I can make it happen.
Catch you on the next one.