So I’m officially in panic mode ; it occurs to me that I’ve got about 10 weeks left to go and whilst I have made a heck of a lot of progress in general terms, this ignores the fact that I started from a really low base – I have plenty of friends who, without breaking a sweat could casually run the kind of distances that I’ve struggled my way up to over the course of half a year.

Since my body breaking 15km run I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact that aiming for a set finishing time is probably a fools game at this point. With that in mind, I’ve picked a training plan for beginners that focuses on getting me across the finish line rather than a specific pace and whilst I’m doing my own workouts in and around it – I’m really committing to it in the hope that I at least won’t embarrass myself on the day!

(https://www.coachmag.co.uk/marathon-training/7129/14-week-beginner-marathon-training-plan).

Having said that, I think it’s important (for my sanity) to put a few things in perspective. Right at the beginning of this whole process I knew that I was not a “typical runner” and actually cardio has never really been my forte (or even something that I was “average” at to be honest…) So whilst there are many that may not see my “milestones” as achievements; here are some of my successes over the past 29 weeks:

1. For the first time in my life, I can run more than 2km at a steady pace without slowing down. It’s really not an exaggeration to say I’ve never done this in 30 years of living. Sure I’ve done the odd 10km here and there but they were always a combination of short bursts of running followed by longer bouts of walking… Nowadays, as long as I set the right pace, I can go or at least 4km and at most 9km without stopping or slowing down significantly. Not world beating sure but certainly a proud achievement for me
2. I regularly run distances exceeding 5km at least twice a week – Outside of charity runs (again, maximum 10km), I’ve never run more than about 3km total in a single session. Not in the gym, certainly not outside – never really had a reason to nor the patience/stamina.
3. I’ve started to learn a bit more about the limits of my body and how to work with it – as well as learning to appreciate it a bit more! Even when I was “fighting fit”, I never really understood my body or my limits. Often I’d push the limits to the point where I’d black out but I don’t think I ever really learnt any lessons from this. With a longer term goal in mind, I’ve really had to take the time to learn more about what some of the aches and pains mean and what I can do to mitigate them.

I don’t want to overstate my achievements but I need to acknowledge that I’ve come a long way – even if I’m not hitting the heights that I’d envisioned way back when I first signed up for this. I still have fears over whether or not I’ll actually complete the distance and when I do, how long it’ll take – but I’m certainly going to give it a hell of a go.