I'm still in training for Greater Manchester Marathon. Next Sunday I have to run 22 miles as part of my training. And I will do it, even though just 6 months ago that would have seemed a stupidly long distance to even think about (now it's just another long training run). After that I start the "tapering", which basically means I run less to let my muscles recover from all the abuse I've been putting them through while still doing some much shorter runs at the pace I'm aiming for in the race (around 7:56 a mile).
I've signed up for Shrewsbury half marathon too, which I'll be doing to raise funds for Severn Hospice - they asked if anybody was up for it on twitter, and I have a friend who works there so it seemed like a cool thing to do. It's 6 weeks after Manchester, so I have time to recover and train for the shorter distance (since I quite often run 15+ miles plus on a Sunday these days it's not a big worry).
Anyway, here's some stuff I've learned in the process of becoming a runner:
The last mile is history. It's what you're doing right now that counts.
If you start it, you finish it.
You can nearly always go further than you think you can.
The rewards are worth the effort.
Even the longest run is just a series of steps. As long as you can take the next step, you'll get to the end eventually.
You're not competing with other people. You're competing with the voice in your head that says "you can't".
Pain isn't always bad.
Shoes matter.
Toenails and skin on heels are for sissies.
Foam rollers were invented by a sadist.
The standard of "can I wear this?" for clothes you run in is "does it still bend?", no matter how much sweat it's drenched in.
There's always somebody that can run further and faster. That doesn't stop you going as far and as fast as you can. It's only a competition with yourself.
