Gail Emms' Blog by Gail_Emms

• Nearing the finish line...

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  Apr2620131:50 p.m.

  Hello! I hope everyone is well? It has been a sporty month in the world of sport and here at my house too! I firstly want to say a massive congratulations to all those who took part in the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday. It was incredible to watch as always and I find it so emotional. I ran it back in 2009 and it brings back so many memories. I loved seeing my friends and family near Big Ben and hearing them shout for me and then crossing the finish line, so relieved it was over! I can still remember the pain of trying to get up and down stairs for a week afterwards, but most of all, I feel like I took part in such a tradition and that is very special indeed.

  It was interesting to keep an eye on times of some of my fellow ex-athlete friends to make sure they didn’t do better than me otherwise I will have to enter again! Luckily Steve Parry (ex-swimmer bronze medallist 2004) and Kelly Sotherton (heptathlete bronze medallist 2004) both went over 4 hours, so I can still brag about my time of 3 hrs 47 mins to them! It is an immense achievement to do a marathon and whatever time you do it in, whether it is 3 hours or 8 hours, it is incredible to know the human body can do this, along with a lot of mental toughness and I salute all who ran. I wonder how many will do it again??! I want to do it again sometime, but only when I know I will have the time to put the training in.

  

  As I said before, it has been a sporty household too but that has been mainly for my little boy Harry. He turned 3 last month which means he is now old enough to join a lot of sports clubs. As I am going to have a baby very soon, I wanted him to be really active in classes so that gives me a bit more time for the baby. Harry now has tennis lessons, football classes and a new swimming session! I felt like a proud parent watching him play tennis for the first time and seeing him actually hit the ball! He was great at the football and even got “Man of the Match” (I think it was because it was his first time!) and he went into the swimming pool all on his own for the swimming sessions! I did however, feel the competitiveness creep into me! I have turned into my mum!

  She was very competitive with me and when I was watching Harry and he did something good, I wanted to cheer! I will have to learn to calm this down! I even felt it creep up on me when Harry got to the final of the musical chairs at a birthday party and was secretly gutted when he lost out, although he did win the disco dancing competition! The parents there who know me were laughing and teasing me so much about it that I am going to have to seriously work on this!! Anyway, the main thing is that Harry is loving these activities and is buzzing about them afterwards and so excited doing them again the next week and it gives me a chance to sit down at least! I am needing to sit down a lot now as I only have 2 ½ weeks to go until my due date and I scare people now with the size of my bump.

  It is quite amusing walking into a shop for instance and the looks on people’s faces, but I do have to remember to take it easy. Harry loves being out on his scooter, but the trouble is, I can’t keep up with him just walking! I had to get the bike out the other day, just so I could make sure he didn’t go into a road. I did look a little bit strange, a bit like Benny Hill on a bike in a comedy way, but I managed it! Not quite sure how….! I have a few midwife appointments this week and as my measurements predict another big baby (Harry was 9lb 2oz and a c-section), the decision may be taken to book me in again for a c-section. I am keeping an open mind at the moment, but I will listen to all the professional advice, as they certainly know a lot more than me!

  

  I am in the “cannot stop eating phase” at the moment which I am sure isn’t helping with the big baby bump, but I can’t help it! A few weeks ago, it was a real struggle to eat and now, I am hungry all the time. I have such a sweet tooth at the moment, so chocolate lasts a few seconds before I devour it. I am sure my body is carb-loading for the big event and I think I am just going to have to give in to all the cravings. I am not sure how much weight I have put on so far, but I think it is between 2 ½ and 3 stone, which is what I did with Harry. To be honest, all I care about is a healthy baby. I know there are books and pregnancy leaflets and advice saying that you should only put on 2 stone max, but I think that as long as you are sensible and don’t go crazy, then you just have to allow your body to cope with the hormones of being pregnant. Everyone is different and I certainly am to a lot of my friends who are pregnant now or have been! And also, I need to enjoy the chocolate before I start my post pregnancy healthy eating plan??!

  And finally, I went to Center Parcs Sherwood Forest on Saturday to lend my support to the Wilson/Center Parcs National Schools Finals. I love this event as the regional winners come together to play against each other in a great place with a great atmosphere to battle it out to see which school is the National Champion. This year, 31,000 schools entered which is amazing as it has gone up from 22,000 last year. This competition is growing and growing and it shows how the Olympic legacy has really hit schools and they want to keep sport as a priority. I hope this event keeps up this momentum and will have my support for as long as possible as it really is so encouraging to see. See you next time!

   

   

   

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