Claire Hooper: Comedian to run her first half marathon with just 4 weeks training

CAN YOU really go from zero to half marathon in four and a half weeks? If you’re comedian Claire Hooper, the answer is, yes.

CAN YOU really go from zero to half marathon in four and a half weeks? If you’re comedian Claire Hooper, yes.

The 38-year-old hasn’t let work, an eight-month-old baby or her lack of experience stop her, agreeing to run 21 kilometres this weekend for the Melbourne Running Festival.

“I kind of had a brain snap, I can’t really explain why I signed up for it!” laughs Ms Hooper.

“A lot of people were suggesting it to me and believe it or not, my management asked me to be part of the half marathon. Both of my brothers have done it and I’ve always kind of envied their fitness ambitions.

“It’s so weird, I was like, yeah I’ll do it, then I spent three days hiding saying, I’m not ready! If I pretend this isn’t happening then it won’t be! I had a young baby, I was deeply unfit, the idea was so ridiculous I just had to try it.”

Claire Hooper.

Fortunately, Ms Hooper had a trainer to help her out — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it. With hourlong strength sessions and ‘light’ days involving five kilometre jogs, the regime was intense.

“My muscles hurt so much, I was coming from zero. I couldn’t walk up stairs, pick up my child — and with an eight month old, that’s tough,” she said.

“I was really interested to observe that I found actually getting motivated to go to training less difficult than when I’ve had a personal trainer at other times in my life. I think it’s because I’m a mum now, it sets you up for following orders, following training plans, having little sleep and still having to function. Mentally I was alright; I just did what I was told to do and switched off. Physically though, it’s been hard.

“The other day the baby didn’t sleep for three nights, and the training session after those three nights was so hard. I burst into tears during a squat. I couldn’t hold it and I started crying, so embarrassing. It had never occurred to my 25-year-old trainer than a 38-year-old client might start crying mid-session, the poor thing.

“Also because I’m breastfeeding you have hormones in your system which make your joints a bit slacker. So the challenge has been the physical limits of not pushing myself and hurting myself. But I think you have to know the risks, and take precautions.”

Claire with her dog Dusty. Picture: Mark Stewart

Ms Hooper admits that “diet is the area where I’ve failed the most!

“My trainer gave me a list of things I should eat and things I should avoid, and I ate it all! So I call that 50 per cent correct. The joy of it was avocado and smoked salmon, and it’s meant that for four weeks I’ve been able to justify spending $12 on an avocado! I’ve allowed myself to buy the expensive foods because I deserve it.”

But how exactly has Ms Hooper managed to train for a half marathon around an eight month old child?

“There have been moments where I’ve thought, have I been irresponsible? If I wasn’t committed — and hadn’t already told everyone what I was doing — you’d just go, I’m not going to pay $24 an hour to pay someone to look after my child when my husband’s unavailable, I’m going to stop. But I haven’t. My poor husband had already signed up for a half marathon in November so I’ve really sabotaged his training and he’s working around me.

“I see plenty of people running with their baby but I need to be running without the child in order to get ready in time. During the course of training even my dog and I have stopped being running buddies! I have to leave him at the front door now, it’s heartbreaking.”

Ms Hooper’s game-plan for Sunday’s half marathon is to keep her head down and go at her own pace.

“I’m totally nervous. I’ve got sore hips, a sore ankle, and I’ve got a day to get them right. I have no doubt that I can finish, but I am really, rightfully apprehensive about knowing what’s the right pace and the balance between being just ambitious enough but not pushing myself too much.

“I don’t want to ruin any music by associating it with painful exercise so I’ve downloaded comedy podcasts to listen to instead. I have no running buddies, but I’ll be running and it’ll be like my friends are talking to me through the podcasts. It might not break any records but it’ll work for me.

“I have also made a T-shirt which I’m not sure I’ll wear yet, but if I do, when anyone who’s ahead of me turns around they’ll see that it reads ‘You’re not better than me’, and from behind it says ‘I’m better than you’. I’m still deciding if I will wear it, but it makes me laugh!”

You can follow Claire on race day using the twitter hashtag #thefirsttime | Medibank have documented Claire’s running journey as a “first timer” and will release a short film just after she crosses the finish line tomorrow, which you can watch at www.medibank.com.au