I have stated before that committing to an event is an extraordinary way to stay motivated to train. This never rang truer for me than on Saturday, while the alarm went off at 4.40 am as it had for the previous months’ great worth of Saturdays, and I was given up to the sound of rain at the roof. “I’m now not going for walks on this,” came the text message from my training accomplice, and for at least 5 mins, the idea of going back to mattress turned into a higher alternative.
But then, because the cold-hard realization hit me that the first-ever marathon I had dedicated to changed into merely one week away, I reluctantly headed out the door. I figured doing at least an hour could be better than nothing. When I started walking, it changed into not as awful as I idea and the light rain was merely a pleasant trade to the mugginess of the beyond few months. Seeing others obtainable slogging it out too, albeit a whole lot fewer than a regular Saturday morning, gave me heart. An easy nod and “Morning” changed into sufficient to maintain me going. Once I reached an hour, I figured I might also as properly preserve going. By the stop, three hours later, I felt great. High that I had endured with my build as much as the following week’s 42.2-kilometer occasion as part of NewRun on April 7.
Thoughts of “What am I doing?” that had crossed my mind as I drove into town left me, and as a substitute, I idea approximately how months in the past I had never run beyond 22km. A friend instructed me some weeks lower back how, within the space of twelve months, she had long passed from being a marathon runner (forty-two. 2km) to an extreme distance runner, now doing 100km occasions.
I am quite confident on the way to now not be me; however, transitioning from a shorter distance runner (5km and 10km) to an extended distance runner (21km) is less complicated than most people could suppose. Finding the time and staying committed have now not always been clean but had been vital for me.