As I write this, I’m on the train to London ready to take on the London Marathon on Sunday. Over the last few weeks, the one question I’ve been asked more than any is “Are you ready?” And it’s set me thinking, what is ready, and how do we measure it?
As a marketeer, a big part of my job is measuring, tracking
and analysing things. As a runner, it’s quite easy to get obsessed with stats.
As a bit of a control freak, I like plans and I like to have a good idea of how
things are going to turn out.
But this weekend I’m tying to put as much of that at the back
of my mind as possible and just enjoy the day.
It’s my second attempt at the London Marathon and, despite
how hard and horrible my first stab at it was, it remains one of my favourite
days ever. Although I was a much less experienced runner then, I’ve since done
heaps of races and the atmosphere has never come close to it – even the world
famous Great North Run hasn’t felt as special as that day did.
Just having a place is something to be extremely thankful
for, and I’m so grateful to Childhood First, the fantastic charity me and Des
are supporting at the moment for giving us the opportunity – even if things haven’t
turned out as planned for Des (but that’s a story for another day).
I’m so excited for all of it, the whole experience. From heading
over to the Expo this afternoon, to taking in a new parkrun and a nice day with
friends tomorrow, to the main event on Sunday. I’m going to embrace every
second of it because I know how lucky I am to be taking part.
So on to the technical stuff then. The training.
When I set about this marathon plan, I was in the happy haze
of absolutely smashing the Manchester last year, and running London with Des a
month after our wedding seemed like a marvellous idea. Everything slotted into
place nicely and I was very excited to put to rest the demons from my struggle
last time I did London.
Since then a lot has happened.
2022 so far has been an amazing year for so many reasons. Unfortunately,
all these reasons have stacked up to mean that training has had to take a bit
of a back seat and upping my mileage didn’t really happen at all until the
middle of August. My base mileage stayed frequent and consistent but I just
didn’t have whole Sunday mornings to dedicate to running a long way, and my
work schedule didn’t allow the mid-week miles which bumped up my weekly average
so nicely last year.
So, when the middle of August rolled around, it was time to
start putting in some hard work. Since then, I’ve tackled a tough solo 15 mile
run from Trent Bridge to Rainworth along with three half marathon events and
various double digit mile runs with the DOdaily coaching group. Essentially, I’ve
done everything I can to cram marathon training into around seven weeks – during
which time I also got married!
It's not gone too badly to be honest. My most recent half
marathon, the Robin Hood last weekend, went far better than the previous two
and I finished in the respectable time of 2:15 which I was both pleased and slightly
surprised with – it was the perfect confidence booster needed the week before
London.
Of course I’ve had to re-adjust my expectations quite significantly
– the time I initially had as a target is now nowhere near the time I’ve got in
my head for Sunday. But that’s fine, I don’t mind too much, because if I beat
myself up about it, I know it’s going to get into my head too much and it will
affect my experience which I really don’t want to let it do.
Back to that question then “Are you ready?”
Some might say I’m not. In fact I know there are people
around me saying that. But every marathon is different and this one isn’t going
to be about smashing a PB or chasing a time down. I’m doing the London Marathon
on Sunday and I’m going to absolutely savour my opportunity to run one of the
best marathons in the world, every step of the way.
And for that, I’m perfectly ready!
