Paula Radcliffe will line up in her fifth consecutive Olympic Games this summer as she tackles just over twenty six miles of the marathon.
But before we see her in action in London she is supporting the Dishes of Best Wishes campaign with Fairy. I caught up with her to discuss the campaign and how her preparation for the London Games is going.
- You are supporting the 'Dishes of Best Wishes’ with Fairy so can you tell me a little bit about it?
It has already been running as The Fairy Challenge in schools and we have been judging this morning some of the dishes that were in the final category. Then it is going to launch from April 16th on Facebook.com/fairy dish.
I know how important home support is and support for the athletes and we are people is to design their dish with the best wishes that they would send to an athlete or a team of their choice and help get behind the athletes.
Fairy have done some research and discovered that 20,000 dishes go to making an athlete, in terms of cooking and washing up that needs to be done to support a growing athlete - which is phenomenal. So that kind of shows how Fairy supporting mums support athletes.
- The campaign obviously linked in with London 2012 so how excited are you at the prospect of a home games and have you let yourself start to think what it's going to be like?
Oh yeah I have been thinking about it since 2005 when we found out that Britain had won the Games.
It is an amazing opportunity, once in a lifetime, for an athlete to get the chance to compete on home soil in a home Games and I am really excited about it.
- The London Games are now just around the corner so how would you assess the shape that you are in at the moment and how has winter training gone?
Winter training has got pretty steadily and I will be racing on April 15th in a half marathon, then I may have a couple more races before the Olympics.
But I am happy with how things have and gone and I am now looking forward to ramping up the marathon training and really getting ready.
- I was reading that you have been training at the Rift Valley in Kenya, which is at altitude, so how have you found your time there? What makes that particular training camp so effective?
Well I was there for a month before Christmas and I was there for a month in January, and I have just got back from another altitude camp in the U.S.
The camp in Kenya work really well, UK Athletics has been going there for two or three years now, but Rafael was only small last year so I didn’t want to go so this was the first time that I had been.
But it worked out really really well, aside from the fact that it was the biggest sacrifice that I have ever made in my career to leave the kids and the family behind to go away for a month.
Being there with the team and having the team support and it was just a beautiful place to train as well so it just worked really well.
- You have slightly touched on this already but what are you looking to work on between now and the Games this summer?
Oh just training hard and staying healthy (laughs).
- You achieved the qualifying time for London in September of last year so how much easier has the winter been knowing that you didn't have to go out and chase a time this spring?
I guess it has been easier as it has been a big weight off my mind to get that ticked off and have the knowledge from September that I would be selected.
That has enabled me to concentrate on making sure that I am in the best possible shape for August without, like you said, having that extra stress of racing round trying to get extra qualifying times.
- You have had success at the London Marathon and on the track at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester so what does it mean to you as an athlete to be able to perform in front of and be supported by a home crowd?
Oh it means a huge amount. When we won the bid people were asking me about the value of home support and I know all about that from Manchester, it is still one of the most amazing nights of my whole life.
Running in that stadium it still gives me goosebumps just remembering it and it is still a really special memory for me and I am looking forward to reliving that and experiencing that in the Olympics.
- This will be your fifth consecutive Olympic Games so how much do you draw on past experiences to help you through training and a race?
Well hopefully the last two won’t have to be experiences that I will have to draw on a huge amount.
But yes in terms of preparation and knowing about what the Olympics is about, why it is a big deal, different areas that take extra energy from you and different areas that give back energy - it’s good having that knowledge.
It is also really good knowing that it is going to be on home soil because that is a huge advantage for all of the British athletes.
- Have you been down to the Olympic Park and had a look around?
I have. But my event will take part more in the city so I was even running on part of the course that I will be on this morning.
So it was nice that I am able to do that but it’s also nice that the course is over terrain that is familiar to me from the London Marathons.
- Well you have touched on my next question really they have revealed the route for the race, which will start and end on The Mall, so what do you think of the course?
I think it’s really nice as it puts in so many of London icons, had it been a point to point finish at the stadium it wouldn’t have been as an iconic a race.
For me having so many happy memories of London marathons part of racing marathons in London is The Mall so it’s nice to have that. And with it being a loop course we will experience that crowd support so much better as the crowds will be able to see the athletes several times.
- The marathon is always a fiercely competitive event so who do you expect to be your major rivals? And what sort of time do you think would be needed to claim a medal?
Oh key rivals - there are so many - but the main one would be Liliya Shobukhova from Russia and the Kenyan trio, which ever three they do select; Mary Keitany, Florence Kiplagat, Lucy Kabuu - they haven’t yet finalised their team.
The Ethiopian girls are also tough and the Japanese girls are usually pretty strong and the Chinese possibly.
The one thing with the marathon is it really is about who is right on the day and you have to be aware of everyone going in.
But the most important thing is to make sure that you are as healthy as possible and in the best shape that I need to be to be able to go out and give it 100%.
- Along with yourself the likes of Mo Farah, Dai Greene, Jess Ennis and Phillips Idowu are all being tipped as major medal hopes so how do you think the athletics team will perform on home soil?
I think it is shaping up really well; it is really tough to peak for the one day every four years.
But I think home advantage is a big advantage and it will help British athletes to raise their performance by that extra 5% or 10% and I think we are going to have a really strong team.
- You are also a mother of two young children so how difficult is it juggling parenthood as well as your training commitments?
It is difficult and you do have to be more organised but I am really happy and when you are happy you just make things work out - I tend to run a lot better when I am happy as well.
So I am very fortunate to have a lot of good support from family and friends around us.
- And are they old enough to understand what mum does?
Isla does, she is five, and she understands fully what mum does and that she runs in the Olympics, I don’t think she is really sure what the Olympics is (laughs). Rafael at the moment just thinks running is running and that is fun.
- Finally what's coming up for you between now and the Games, will we see you run before the marathon this summer?
I am going to be racing in Vienna on April 15th and then I am still finalising the rest of my racing schedule.
Olympian, Paula Radcliffe MBE is the Fairy ‘Dishes of Best Wishes’ ambassador. You can get behind your favourite team or athlete competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games by designing your own dish using the fun and easy app found at www.facebook.com/fairydish.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw