Lazy Girl Running

Articles

Why's everyone talking about protein?

1 week ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

More years ago than I care to count, I trained for my Personal Training certificate. On the course were two brothers who I sat near in the classroom parts of the course. Every 90 minutes an alarm would sound on their watches and they’d take out a lunchbox containing precisely measured out portions of chicken breast or boiled eggs. They explained to me that they were on an intense training (and eating) schedule and had to make sure they got enough protein in throughout the day.
All The Gear: Zero-chafe marathon kit

2 weeks ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

Marathon kit selection is important. You want to wear clothes that work for you technically and emotionally, as well as items that look good and give you confidence. For some runners, wearing leggings is a non-negotiable, whatever the weather because they feel most confident in them. Some runners will be wearing a charity top or a their running club vest and this will give them an emotional boost.
London Marathon 2025 debrief

2 weeks ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

In the week before the London Marathon we had several weather warnings from the race organisers telling us it was going to be hot and that we should adjust our race plans. “It will be fine” I told myself “I run well in the heat”. I had run my marathon PB at a particularly warm Edinburgh, and I had an early start wave for London, so I wasn’t too worried. I did, however, adjust my expectations of the day.
How to buy home workout equipment you’ll actually use

3 weeks ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I recently spent a weekend turning my garage into a ‘gym’. I painted the walls to make it a bit brighter, put in some gym flooring I was given and cleared out a load of old tat that had been taking up space. That third point was key and the one that cost zero money: clearing out things that we no longer needed that were taking up space and making it difficult or less appealing to workout in the garage.
All The Gear: Running kit for women

4 weeks ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

For the past year I have been the Reviews Editor for Women’s Running magazine, which means that I pick and choose the kit that we review each issue, get it to the reviewers and compile all the reviews. Before this I reviewed kit for the magazine and website and was part of The Run Testers doing shoe reviews on YouTube.
Why can't I quit running marathons?

1 month ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

There’s something about marathons that has had me returning to them again and again for the past 15 years. It might not be an entirely healthy relationship. I train for months, forgoing other things, ache a lot, become pretty grumpy at times and then, even when everything has gone well in training, I’m still not guaranteed a good outcome on race day. Every time I train I say “I’m not doing this again. This is my last one.” And so far that hasn’t been true.
How to pace your marathon

1 month ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

A question I get asked a lot is how to pace a marathon - what strategy to use. My answer is always even splits, though there are some caveats to that. Runners have often read about ‘negative splits’ (starting slower and getting faster) or have been told by a friend that they should start faster because they’re ‘going to slow down towards the end anyway’.
Are you racing as well as you could?

1 month ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

Running and racing are two different modes for me. I didn’t realise quite how different they are (other than the change of pace and number of people going in the same direction) until a couple of years ago. I was having a pretty stressful period on the domestic front. Even going for a run I’d still be worrying about things. But then I did a half marathon and when I finished I realised that during the race I’d be thinking only about running leaving no space to worry about anything else.
My boring training routine that delivered a 1:34 half marathon

2 months ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

On Sunday I ran the Kettering Half Marathon and finished in 1:34:04. But this post isn’t about my finish time so much as it is about dispelling some myths about training and the sort of running plan it takes to achieve big improvements in times. There was a time, not that long ago, when running a 1:34 half marathon was in another league from things I thought was capable of. I certainly didn’t think that as I got further into my 40s, my times would still be getting faster.
Coaching women, writing and running

2 months ago | lazygirlrunning.substack.com | Laura Fountain

I asked Lily Canter to join me for a live chat after chatting on here because our working lives are very similar and I wanted to have a good natter about coaching women runners and some of the shared experiences we’d had. You can watch the recording above. Lily’s book ‘Ultra Women’ is out in May. You can pre-order it now.