It is good to know I am not the only one accident prone on runs. Some very funny comments on the Virgin London Marathon Facebook page regarding funny injury/running stories. Still unable to run and no bruise for sympathy. I think the lack of a big multi coloured bruise hurts me more than the leg! I think we need to collate all our funny stories together in the forum so that us running fools can feel united (maybe on this thread).

It is typical that the week when I am not running the weather has been a lot better... I am sure you guys have been taking advantage of this and are actually enjoying some of your runs for a change? Spring marathon season is now in full flow and I see in the forum many people are racing some half’s and longer races.

The Final Stretch

With less than two months to some big marathon’s you should now have now completed your ‘base training’ and moving on to the race preparation phase. This basically will include some longer runs (13-15 miles upwards) with some faster effort paced runs. Racing is a perfect way to do both of these and bring out the competitive side of your feet!

Your race will tell you one of three things-

1.       You are running a lot faster than you thought!

2.       You are as fit as you predicted!

3.       This is a big wakeup call!

At this stage there is no point in worrying about any of the negatives, you are where you are and sadly you cannot change the past. You have just over a month of training left until you enter your ‘taper’. If you were going to take your training really seriously it would be now!

When I say take it seriously I am not talking about changing your training plan. Make a drastic change to your training will most likely result in injury or illness. Stick to the plan and if you do make any changes please please please be sensible! You have 5 weeks to ‘seriously’ focus on the marathon in many different areas.

Sleep as a marathon runner!

5-weeks to go but that only mean 5 long runs or big training sessions to go. This is your opportunity to have some early/ easy nights before these runs. Your training is hard enough without you waking up with a hangover and little sleep.

Eat like a marathon runner!

The running/ healthy diet you started maybe starting to go pear shape. Remember your body is a machine, feed it bad fuel and liquid and it will not run smoothly!

Train like a marathon runner!

Of course training is hard, that’s the whole point of this marathon running lark. Have a think back to when you first started training. The horrible first few weeks of hell! Now look at how far you have gone. 5 more weeks of focussed training and you can turn around and say I gave this my best shot!

If only marathon running was this simple. Sure, there will be external factors interrupting all of the above (i.e. injuries, children, birthdays, life!) but, in the same way you went from not being fit to where you are now you have the opportunity to really push yourself and see where you get! Here is one of my favourite positive running quotes from a former London Marathon winner, Charlie Spedding:

“Aim for perfection. Know what you want, why you want it and how much you want it. Try and feel fantastic and train like a caterpillar!”

Why a caterpillar? Because only after all this hard work can you have the opportunity to become a butterfly!