Login
Login

Victoria Cooper

Royal Parks Half Marathon 2026

Donate to Victoria and help them hit their goal of £350!

I'm taking part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon 2026 as part of #TeamStroke

I joined #TeamStroke for the Royal Parks Half Marathon 2026.

## My Story

Most of you know that an MRI a couple of years ago revealed I’d previously had a stroke. Since then, doctors found two underlying risk factors: a hole in my heart (a PFO) and antiphospholipid syndrome. Thankfully, both are now managed with Warfarin, under the watchful eye of my amazing anti-coagulation team.

Physically, I am incredibly lucky. While I deal with some brain fog and short-term memory issues, the mental toll has been the hardest part. Being told at 38 that you’ve had a stroke—and that a second one could be fatal or life-altering—is a tough pill to swallow. For two years, I’ve vacillated between being ultra-healthy and adopting a "you only live once, eat the cake" mentality.  

Finding Balance Through Running

Running is the one thing that keeps me grounded. I’m not fast, and I won’t be winning any medals, but spending a couple of hours plugged into an audiobook brings my brain and body into perfect homeostasis. It makes me feel like I’m winning at life.

Why I'm Running for the Stroke Association

I believe I actually had my stroke at age 16. I collapsed while making dinner, my face dropped, and my speech slurred. Yet at A&E, we were told it was likely "just a migraine" due to my age, and we were sent home.

Fast forward to the accidental discovery of my brain damage years later, and the contrast is stark. Now, specialists treat me with kid gloves, and the stroke team didn't stop investigating until they found answers.

Excellent, thorough stroke care shouldn't depend on luck, your age, or which hospital you happen to walk into. 

The Reality of Stroke in the UK

 * **100,000** strokes happen in the UK every year—that's one every five minutes.

 * There are over **1.4 million** stroke survivors currently rebuilding their lives.

The Stroke Association believes everyone deserves the best possible care and support to rebuild their lives. They rely entirely on donations to fund vital services, campaign for better care, and research preventative treatments.

If you are able to donate, your support will help ensure that future stroke survivors get the immediate, life-saving answers they deserve. Thank you so much!


Please help me reach my goal

Raised

£88 + £2.89 GiftAid

My Goal

£350

Select amount to donate

£10
£25
£50
£
Donate

All payments are secure & encrypted

My Achievements

Fundraising page set up

Added a profile pic

Made a donation

Shared your page

Reached 50% of target

Reached fundraising target

My updates

Week 3 Training Blog: Lumps, Bumps, and Diets

Friday 19th Jun



The mileage and intensity are ramping up, and with the warmer weather, it’s been tiring. While I’m not overwhelmed, I am facing a few literal and metaphorical speed bumps this week.


The Shoe Dilemma & Dodgy Knees

I switched to Asics for this training cycle, but even at just 5K, they are causing severe rubbing on the arches of both feet. Because I have wide feet, blister plasters are a temporary fix, but the real issue is that the discomfort is changing my running form. This is causing new aches and pains in my legs.


Fixing my form is crucial because I’m managing two old knee injuries:

 Left Knee: Residual soreness from past bursitis (I use K-tape for every run).

 Right Knee: A permanent "squidgy lump" from an old scooter accident that previously triggered bad sciatica.

I’m relying on strength training to protect my joints because the long-term dream is to run a full marathon.


The Diet Puzzle: Running on Warfarin

To ease the load on my joints, I want to lose about a stone (14 lbs) during this training. However, managing my diet is a bit complicated due to my medication. I am on Warfarin for an autoimmune condition called Antiphospholipid Syndrome, which causes my blood to clot easily.

 The Alcohol Win: Warfarin requires limiting alcohol to 14 units a week. Sticking to designated drinking days has drastically improved my sleep, mental well-being, and morning mood.

 The Green Veggie Problem: Normally, I’d lose weight by filling half my plate with green vegetables. However, greens are high in Vitamin K, which counteracts Warfarin. Because my blood levels are finally stable, I cannot make any drastic changes to my vegetable intake. No crash dieting allowed!

The Weight Loss Plan

Running makes you hungry, and a 5K only burns about 350 calories—making it incredibly easy to accidentally overeat. To lose a steady 1 lb a week, I need a daily 500-calorie deficit.

Since I can't drastically alter my core meals without affecting my medication, my strategy is straightforward:

 Keep my main meals consistent.

 Cut out the cakes, biscuits, and chocolate.

 Drink plenty of water.

Lightening the load pound by pound will make a massive difference for my knees by race day.

Thank you for following my journey! If you’d like to support my training and keep these knees moving, please consider sponsoring me at the link below.

From 'Sticky Blood' to the Runner’s High: Why I’m Taking Back Control, One 5:20 AM Alarm at a Time

Friday 12th Jun
 If you’ve been following my journey for a while, you know my relationship with fitness has been a bit of a rollercoaster. But today, I’m officially checking in from Week 2 of my new 19-week half marathon training plan.
This October, I’m taking on the London Parks Half Marathon and this time around, things are looking different.

The Game Plan: Goodbye Plodding, Hello Pace?
Let’s be honest about my first half marathon. I finished it, which I’m incredibly proud of, but it took just under three hours. Yes, there was a 15-minute emergency toilet stop in there (we’ve all been there), but even a 2-hour and 45-minute finish means a  lot of time pounding the pavement and putting weight on my knees.
This time, I want to get quicker.
But as any runner knows, you don’t get faster just by wishing for it. Last time, I used the Nike Running Club app, which was great for motivation but did absolutely nothing for my form. This time, I’ve switched to an app called Runna to build actual resilience. I’m introducing:
 Sprint training:Which is surprisingly fun!
 Structured long runs:Building up the distance safely.
 Strength training: Something I completely ignored the first time around.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: my fitness levels have definitely depleted over the last year. According to my Apple Watch, my VO2 max dropped from a decent 32 down to 27. Getting up at 5.20 AM a couple of days a week to run before work is brutal. But honestly? Getting all that oxygen to my brain so early means I’m twice as sharp for the rest of the day.

If you see me on Strava, I’m still plodding. But I’m building the foundation to get faster, and that's what counts.

Reclaiming My Body: "Medicating My Lifestyle"
Beyond the fitness goals, this race is deeply personal. For the past few years, my health has been a chaotic mess. On a day-to-day level, I deal with a debilitating hiatus hernia and migraines twice a week, despite being on different preventative medications.

But behind the scenes, things got even heavier. Following a previous stroke diagnosis, doctors recently discovered I have a PFO(a hole in my heart) Antiphospholipid Syndrome (also known as Hughes Syndrome, or "sticky blood").
To say this threw me through a loop is an understatement. I spent the early part of this year facing down the terrifying prospect of heart surgery, only for my medical team to pivot to a lifelong prescription of Warfarin instead. My mental health took a massive hit. Health anxiety is real, and it makes you confront your own mortality in a way that can feel utterly paralyzing.

But a month ago, I started the Warfarin. My levels are finally in the "therapeutic range," and I made a definitive choice: I am going to medicate my lifestyle, not let the medication dictate my life.

I decided what I wanted my life to look like. I want to do lots of exercise. I want to eat green vegetables. I want to enjoy a glass of wine a couple of nights a week. By doing those things consistently on the same days, my blood levels stay stable, and I get to keep living my life. This half marathon is my way of grabbing the steering wheel and taking back control.

Running for Something Bigger: The Stroke Association
This journey isn't just about my own lungs and legs. I am proudly fundraising for the Stroke Association.

Before my own diagnosis, I didn't know much about them. But here is the reality: stroke is one of the leading causes of death in this country. There is also a massive misconception that strokes only happen to the elderly. Anyone can have a stroke. It happens to young people with their entire lives ahead of them, and the physical and mental fallout can be devastating.
We drastically need more research and more consistent approaches across health authorities (trust me, the lack of consistency I've experienced is a story for another blog post entirely!).

How You Can Help (And Keep Me Accountable!)
My fundraising target is £350.
If I can be a little bit selfish for a moment: the more people who sponsor me, the harder it is for me to hit snooze at 5:20 AM. Knowing I have your support is the ultimate motivation to keep pushing through when the training gets tough.

If you’d like to support a fantastic cause (and watch me suffer through 19 weeks of training), please consider donating to my fundraising page. Every little bit helps.

 A Note to Anyone Thinking of Starting...
To anyone sitting on the fence about running because they "hate it" or "it hurts"—I get it. But my advice is to put aside what everyone else is doing. Don't look at their speed or their distance. For me, the goal is simply to be better than I was yesterday. There is truly nothing like the runner's high.
Thank you so much for reading this far. I’ll be back next week with another update on how the training is going. Until then, wish me luck with the early alarms!

Have you ever used running to get through a tough time? How do you stay motivated on dark mornings? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you to my sponsors

£22.80

Cathryn Mortimer

Very impressive Vic - good luck! X

£17.10

Maria Coombs

You’ve got this, proud of you already. Xxxx

£13.94

Victoria Cooper

£11.55

Emma

You are amazing and so brave

£11.55

Neil Coleman

Good luck!!

£11.55

Rachel A