We’re 10 days into 2023, so it’s high time I posted an update. The 31st of December was a very important day for my challenge as it marked exactly 4 years until my deadline, so that’s now 3 years and 355 days away! By this time in 2026/7, I’ll either have failed or surpassed my goal!? Be fit or be hurt?
I still feel so far away from that imagined success at the moment. I did think about my goals as 2022 became 2023 (sat in front of the telly with the fireworks on.) and I am very mindful that time is ticking. Right now, I need to run a marathon every two months to achieve 26 in 4 years. The longer I take to build up my distance, the less time I have to play with. I have a bit of a game plan forming though. Assuming that I manage to get fit enough to run a marathon at all, I will, at that moment, be in the best shape to run another! I plan to build up fitness to run a bunch of marathons in a year (that sounds overly confident), then step training back down a bit, before doing it again. That’s the plan anyway.
Speaking of plans, the end of 2022 saw my plans stutter considerably as I managed to contract 2 colds in as many weeks and that put a stop to any thoughts of running for a while. Although I really wanted to be running in December 2022, I did manage to start some fitness exercises and restarted regular yoga. I use an app called Down Dog for which I am not sponsored, but that I really like and recommend. After a few weeks, I already feel more supple and I think that it will work very well alongside running to keep muscles stretched and joints supple. I added an activity log to this site and will log all of the activities I do. Hopefully, over time it will be useful to see progress as distances lengthen. I also want to use the mindfulness of making a list to break my previous approach of only running on a Saturday morning with not much else all week. I think it was dangerous when I used to run longer distances with nothing in between, so I’m not doing that this time.
The issue of time is one that I know I need to address, and one that I will try to talk about often as I think it gets in the way of so many people’s plans. I need to work out how to accommodate running and fitness into a busy schedule, which will be a massive problem. Eventually, my lifestyle will change and these things will become the norm, but I know it is going to take a lot of effort to get there. I do like running, but I also really like the sofa, wine and a good film!
Although I couldn’t run before Christmas, I did start the year with a walk around the block. This sounds a bit pitiful, doesn’t it? It was about a mile and a half, but crucially, it was before work one morning in the half-light of a morning in January, and it took me 1/2 an hour. I committed the time and it felt good. I have recently completed my first run of the year, and I think it was that spur-of-the-moment walk that gave me the gumption to do it! Not my fitness or in fact anything more than a moment of decision and half an hour of my time. This is a very direct example of carpe diem (seize the day). Once I was out of the house I loved the walk and when I started work I felt so much more awake. Well done me 🙂
So, although I have coughed and spluttered my way into 2023, I think I am now on the right track. And whether track, field or road, being out there and running is where I need to be. It’s where I want to be.
As ever, I’m doing all this to raise money, I’d be extremely grateful if you’d give me a donation