‘How far did you run this morning?’ asked my neighbour as I staggered up the road yesterday in need of an oxygen mask.  ‘Only 12 miles’ I mumbled.  ‘Only 12 miles, that’s amazing!’ She replied.  Well it is actually. It is curious how your perception of distance changes when you train for a marathon.  I keep on prefixing ever larger numbers with the word ‘only.’  A few months ago I was shocked at the thought of running up to the shops without stopping and now a half marathon is a training run.  The most important reason for this is self belief.  Belief that I can actually run further than I thought I could.  Every time I run a bit further than the last time it gives me confidence that I can go a bit further next time… I was out a few weeks ago with a very good club runner and I asked him why he had never run a marathon.  ‘Marathon running is more about mental strength than physical strength, and  I am not sure I have it’ he replied.  I pondered on this for some time.  I think I have much more mental than physical strength and my tactic in New York will be to keep on visualising the finishing line, right from the very start.  I am hoping that this will make up for my still abysmal level of personal fitness.   Years ago I bought a very fancy pair of bathroom scales which have an inbuilt monitor to calculate your fitness age.  At the age of 43 apparently I had the body of a 50 year.  Now at the age of 48, and after all this bloody training, I  have the body of a 52 year old…  Great.  One thing is for sure I will never ever run another marathon whatever happens.  I am announcing this publicly. Can I ask my friends to shoot me if I ever utter the words  ‘running’ and ‘marathon’ after New York?  Husband has better things to do than kerb crawl after me every Sunday and the kids have had enough late and/or burnt dinners in the past few months to make the NSPCC concerned.   Never again.

NEXT WEEK I am running the New York Marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support. If you are enjoying reading my blogs please donate at: http://www.justgiving.com/jayneandtrevorwebb