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Run
Day 31, Tuesday 17th April 2018
It’s nearly time.
Less than three weeks until I run my first ever marathon. This morning was the first run of my taper, the part of training before a race where workouts get easier as the intensity decreases, to ensure my legs are not tired on race day. Twice before, I’ve trained for marathons and ended up hobbling with severe tendon injuries at this point in training, because I overloaded the intensity of my training, hurt myself and never made it to the taper.
A hint of nerves creep across me as I write this, because I don’t want to tempt fate or jinx my chances, however things are looking good. I feel strong in my body, I feel powerful in my mental state and it’s envigorating to realise that I’m really achieving something by running this race, I’m banishing my demons of past injury.
Historically, I trained to run fast, I trained to ensure a well respected finish time, as way of proving myself. Yet, through all of that, I rarely achieved anything, I certainly never finished a marathon, I never even started one. What’s a greater achievement, finishing a marathon, regardless of the time, or never even starting one? Ironically, all the time that I sought to really prove myself through speed, I didn’t achieve a thing, I never made it to the start line.
