London Marathon - Here We Go!!!

Well it’s that time of year again when the London ballot results start to be sent out.

I kind of forgot all about it until all the photos of the commiserations/congratulations magazines started to clog up my time line. This was attempt number 5 for me and with a record number of people applying this year, never for one minute had I even contemplated that I could be one of the lucky ones.

I had to nip out of work to quickly go home and walk the dog, I just scooped all the post off the doormat and plonked it on the coffee table - not giving it a second thought and headed back to work!

I had seen both of the magazines on Facebook and knew Big Ben was on the cover of the congratulations one, in previous years the the magazine could be seen through the clear cellophane and I was always one of the last people in the whole world to find out my fate so I had no idea what I was about to open. After checking all the other post first I just casually tore open what I was expecting to be junk mail and I actually think my heart stopped momentarily when I saw the top of Big Ben poking out of the ripped plastic and I quickly covered it back up .. not sure why I did that!!! After a few seconds I had another peek... and yup it was still Big Ben F%!k F%!K F%!k followed quickly by OMFG I had to sit down... I was in full blown shock... “me in the London marathon ... no way” omg omg what do I do now??!! I know... take a photo of it and send it to my bird & bezzy... literally within seconds of it landing in their inbox’s my phone was ringing... it’s my bezzy screaming down the phone with the now standard omg omg omg!! Of course I replied with exactly the same... obvs 🙄 she’s that pleased for me that I cried and also had a little wee what with the excitement of it all haha!! 

I was overwhelmed when she said she would join me on my journey from the tedious training to being there in London on the day of the run 😀 I say run and not race... as I certainly won’t be racing anyone or for any particular finish time! For me running the London marathon will be one of best but also the hardest experiences of my life and a huge tick off my bucket list 😃 Of course I will be following a training plan... I might be mad, but not that mad!!! But - and it's a big but - I will not allow it to take over my life! I have a goal and that goal is to enjoy my training runs, finish safely and to enjoy the atmosphere on the day, the time it will take me is totally irrelevant. My training plan will be tailor made for me to get me through the 27 miles .. well 26 miles and 395 yards to be exact!! So in a nutshell my plan will be to stick to a realistic, enjoyable, hard but totally achievable goal 😄 So why am I writing about this??? Well the approach I’m choosing to take for my marathon journey has been met with both positive and negative reactions! On a whole the majority of people have been genuinely pleased for me, but I’ve also received a few negative comments and attitudes... mainly about me and my abilities as a runner. The one that really stuck in my head is what someone at work said “it’s people like you that stop people like me getting a place”!!

What does that even mean!!  Does it mean that just because I’m not super fit or that I’m not super fast that I am less deserving of a place??  Does it mean that just because I’m not chasing a PB and just want to enjoy the experience that I shouldn’t be on the start line??  Or maybe it’s because I don’t intend for the training to take over my life, that they assume I’m not taking it seriously??  So I suppose the point I’m trying to make is no matter how old, or how young, how fit or how fast each you are... everyone deserves the chance to follow their dream! And this is my dream and I know it’s lots of my fellow runners dream too!!! Don’t be put off doing things that other people think you can’t or shouldn’t do. I entered the ballot for a challenge just like everyone else did, I had the same chance of being successful as everyone else had and I know I’m lucky to get this chance... which I will be grabbing with both hands... So just because my approach may not be the traditional approach - or the approach that others think I should take - it’s the one I’m choosing to take and the one I know I will enjoy.