I went for a run!! It was fine, actually.  Born of necessity, because I had dinner in town with some friends and got a taxi home, because I’d drunk too much fruit juice.  Specifically, grape juice.  OK, fermented grape juice – but it’s all carb loading, right? No, I’ve no particular reason to be carb loading.  Shall we change the subject, now?

So yeah, anyway.  I had to run back into town to collect my abandoned car, before it was decorated with one of those festive ‘Police Aware’ stickers so prevalent at this time of year.

It was only 3 1/2 miles, but the physio did say to take it easy the first time.  So I belted out 3 1/2 miles in 37 minutes, which is very close to my 5k PB time… I wore the knee brace he recommended for as long as it took me to get downstairs, this morning – it felt weird round the back of my leg and not like something I could run in, at all.  So I resorted back to Google and found a recipe for taping a chondromalacial patella, and isn’t it pretty??  It twinged a little, but it was basically fine.  Gotta work on those tight hamstrings, though…

A funny thing happened at dinner, last night.  We were talking about the marathon, and one of my friends said something to the effect of “I can’t believe you’re going to run 26 miles!!” It’s the first time anyone’s said the distance to me (I usually get my schtick about running between water stations in, early on in the conversation!), and it provoked a moment of panic…

I was thinking about that while I was running, this morning.  Actually, I was thinking along the lines of “God my hammy hurts.”  “Bloody hell, woman.  You panic at the mention of 26 miles, you whinge because your hamstring hurts.  What are you even doing, trying to run this race?”

And then I noticed that I was running.  Reasonably fast (for me, at least) and apart from a slightly sore right leg, it was comfortable.  I noticed that I hadn’t stopped to walk up hills I wouldn’t have even attempted at a run, 6 months ago (they’re more undulations than proper hills, but still…).  I noticed that my breathing was comfortable, my rhythm regular.  I noticed that I hadn’t pulled up when my knee hurt, or my thigh pulled, or I was uncomfortable.  And I gave myself credit for all those things, because they’re all good progress.  All good things…

So when I got home, I was feeling positive and calm.  26 miles might be a long way, and I might be happier if I think of it as running between the water stations.  I might do it with style and ease and precision. I might, on the day, really struggle with it.  Who knows?! But one thing for sure:  I will train for it and give it my all.  I will keep focussing on what I have to do each day.  And no matter how it goes on race day, I will achieve things *just in the training* that I would have believed impossible a year ago.

That can’t be bad, can it? Four months of achieving the impossible, day by day…  I’ll take that!