My lockdown marathon

At the start of lockdown I was furloughed from work and all of a sudden, like many people, found myself with so much time on my hands that I have never had before. I decided then that there were a few things that I really wanted to do. One was to write my next book - which I have done and I am busily editing. The second was to run a marathon. I have run several half marathons before but never ran over 13.1 miles... so I looked up a plan and I stuck to it.

The one concern my husband had was that because I was planning to do it just around my home town, there would be no support - medical or otherwise so what if I struggle? 

I was discussing this a couple of weeks ago with my music partner, and she offered to cycle with me. Carry my waters and gels in her shopping basket on her bike and ride the 26.2 miles with me. 

So, we pencilled in today, 20 June, for a dummy run - maybe 15-20 miles and see how we got on.

However as the days went by, I kept thinking about whether I could just do the whole run. I have trained enough for it. I discussed this with my friend and we agreed just to see how it goes and if it felt good then maybe we would do the whole 26.

So, this morning, we set out at 7am... the first 13 miles went well, the weather was lovely and we chatted the whole way. I showed her some lovely places she had never been and we made the half way point. I was still undecided as to whether I would do the whole thing at the point... another 5 miles and I had to make the decision - how far shall I go and calculate the route to make it 26 and so I went for it. 

And we made it. the final 3 miles were definitely the toughest but we got there and I ran lockdown marathon.

I came away fairly unscathed - one blister on my toe but otherwise very good and I feel very proud. When I put my mind to something, I tend to find a way to make it happen and I am so pleased I managed to do this. 

It is also lovely because my friend will be leaving at the end of the summer so it was a really experience that we will always remember and look back on.

The rest of the day was spent hydrating and eating and putting my feet up!!! 

Never underestimate what you are capable of - you can accomplish so much more than you think.