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Paula Radcliffe

61 replies

PeachesMcScreamWhizzBangFizz · 04/11/2007 23:13

here

Wow.

Now, I'm the last person to take any interest in sport but with a 10 month old baby, you've got to admit this is seriously impressive.

Am I wrong to wonder if she breast fed....???

OP posts:
newgirl · 05/11/2007 19:57

that bonkers! of course she has a natural gift but the fact is she has trained daily for years to challenge herself. wtf running is like saying wtf art, literature etc - we all have different goals in life. Being a fit strong woman is surely a good role model?!

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 05/11/2007 20:16

Natural talent or not, she runs 150 miles a week to improve her ability. So she has impressive drive and determination. (And fortunately a supportive DH and possibly a nanny and domestic staff)! She's vehemently anti-drugs in sport and best of all, she hasn't started a newspaper column on how we should all raise our babies.

I was really pleased to see she'd won the NYC marathon.

TheQueenOfQuotes · 05/11/2007 20:17

actually just reading an article from a few months back - no nanny - just her parents and PIL - plus the occasional physio/coach (including her DH of course) to help look after Isla

TellusMater · 05/11/2007 20:20

She is awesomely driven.

And I do admire her tremendously.

I just don't warm to her.

No skin off her nose I'm sure

spokette · 05/11/2007 20:55

I think she is an inspiration because she has a gift that she has not squandered. She has nurtured it, works diligently, is focused, determined, tenacious and committed. She is the kind of role model we need in society, not money-hungry, attention seeking, empty headed slebs that clog up the media.

Well done Paula!

CrushWithEyeliner · 05/11/2007 20:58

Going totally against the grain here - I do not see her as an inspiration at all, really don't see why she is so worthy of adoration. I think it's awful to have pushed your body so soon after childbirth - she will age very badly, it will have done her body no favours.
Let's be honest nature did not make it easy to run like she did whilst heavily PG, she pushed herself to the limit and trained at the gym at a time when she should have just been relaxing and looking after herself and her baby. Completely bonkers imvho...

hifi · 05/11/2007 21:04

fio its her first baby, she apparently wants another one between now and the 2012 olympics.
very wealthy, lives abroad in a tax haven, husband very driven, he trains her and they live off her money.

PrettyBetty · 05/11/2007 21:21

oh you lot! She;s just gone back to work..... why don't we clap our hands to all the fellow mum that go back to work!

i am back full time... can i have please a round of applause!

Thanks!!

gizmo · 05/11/2007 21:30

Oh, OK, I can see I haven't expressed myself very clearly here.

When I say 'freakish natural gift' what I mean is that she is so far outside the normal distribution of speed and stamina as to be, well, freakish. There is nothing intrinsically freakish about running marathons - although I would say that having run 4 of them .

And I think she is a fantastic athlete and of course she works unbelievably hard - which goes with the territory for a professional athlete. So I admire her immensely. But I stick with my point which is that for me, I don't find her inspiring. Nothing I do in my training is ever going to give me her gift - it's intrinsic to her. To put this in context, I have a respectable marathon personal best, and I cannot sprint 400 meters at the pace she maintains for 26 miles.

So if you want to take up running, unless you are very unusual indeed, I think you are unlikely to be emulating Paula. It's probably better for your motivation to focus on all the normal folk who train like buggery and get good times despite having kids, work, courses to deal with at the same time.

Is that making more sense now?

TheQueenOfQuotes · 05/11/2007 22:44

"Let's be honest nature did not make it easy to run like she did whilst heavily PG"

unless you happened to already be super fit like she was.

CrushWithEyeliner · 06/11/2007 07:45

Sorry QoQ, that is not a natural state for anyone -even the super fit- to be able to run like that without seriously pushing it, dropping weight and changing your diet.not good whilst PG

gizmo · 06/11/2007 09:36

Well, both Isla and PR are perfectly healthy, so any risks were obviously well controlled.

They tell you to keep an eye on two key parameters if you're running when pregnant: heart rate and temperature. With a person as fit as PR it's perfectly possible to do a lot of long slow paced runs which will keep both well within safe parameters.

UnquietDad · 06/11/2007 09:40

I don't think she's that fit.

Ohhhh, you mean in the sporty way..... as you were....

gizmo · 06/11/2007 09:46

Arf!

CrushWithEyeliner · 06/11/2007 11:34

Sorry to push this point but how do you know they are perfectly healthy? I am sure PR is going to have some long term issues with her bones and joints (all runners do); to stay that skinny and train as she does is soooo not healthy believe me.

gizmo · 06/11/2007 11:38

What health problems does it lead to, CWE?

She's not anorexic, just very fit and with a naturally slender frame. I don't know for sure but I would think she is eating a large amount: you can't run 20+ miles a day competitively without good fuel.

And by the way, it is not the case that all runners have long term problems with their joints. If you have a predisposition to joint problems, running is going to increase your risk. If you don't, then runners, as a population, have the same incidence of joint problems as the non running population.

gizmo · 06/11/2007 11:40

'you can't run 20+ miles per day competitively'

Doh. Obviously PR does not run 20+ miles per day competitively. It's 20+ miles per day training. Different thing.

TheQueenOfQuotes · 06/11/2007 11:51

She's always been skinny - even before she started doing marathons - and was just doing 10 and 5k races she was skinny.

Elffriend · 06/11/2007 11:55

some weird bitchiness goes on around here sometimes. I really don't understand it.

She's a fabulous athlete who has gone back to work after having a baby. Well done her for being so successful. I applaud her and admire the kind of determinaion needed to be an athlete at the top of your game. What the hell is the issue? "What is the point" of running? Dunno, got me. However, is that not true of all athletics? As humans, we want to push ourselves to the limits, to excel, (well, some of us. not me obviously ). Good on her. Your body is designed to cope with a lot more in pregnancy than we gave it credit for in years past.

morningpaper · 06/11/2007 11:58

I think she is AMAZING!

Although I want to cry when I see her tummy muscles - she is so TINY! How did they not tear into pieces and leave her with crumpled skin and a massive parting in the middle? HMM?

morningpaper · 06/11/2007 11:59

Professional runners don't have any fat on their bodies because they are ... professional runners

gizmo · 06/11/2007 12:01

Yeah, it's hard to envisage her pregnant isn't it? Isla must have been a very flat baby!

TheQueenOfQuotes · 06/11/2007 12:03

MP - not a runner - but my recorder teacher at school was very skinny - but had incredibly stomach muscles.......except after having 3 children she had a "gap" in the middle of the muscles where they're just "split" when pg - it was very odd to feel.

gizmo · 06/11/2007 12:05

Wow. Competitive recorder playing must be tougher than I thought.

morningpaper · 06/11/2007 12:06

QoQ mine is like that - I used to have really defined stomach muscles

Now I lie in teh bath and it looks like the red sea

You can see the peristalsis (sp.?) of my intestines writhing around like a bag of snakes in the parting

It's DISGUSTING