It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post. To give you a quick summary post Barca Marathon I had a few light runs to stretch out my legs and then headed down to the Jurassic Coast to take on 3 Marathons in 3 days. It was a tough event, a fantastic place to run, mostly enjoyable and I finished in 13th place out of the 200 odd that started (160 finished). Not too shabby!
Since then I’ve struggled a bit with running with a full race day pack, including all mandatory kit, which weighs around 7lbs. Not so much fun but absolutely necessary.
With just a touch over 3 weeks to go until the Thames Path 100, I had a look back at what I was doing this time 3 years ago. Having bought a mountain bike I was about to start training for a charity event in the Lake District held the following September. I was over 15st (thanks WII Fit!) and judging by my Facebook timeline I spent many an evening enjoying one to many beers!
It’s funny, because that event was epic and without the drive of a certain friend (he knows who he is), I would never have done that but I don’t feel like that was the start of this journey. After we had completed that event I went back to the old ways and whilst I had trimmed down to 13st 8lbs and was obviously fitter, I hadn’t adjusted my mindset and within days of finishing I was back to the old ways. Within a few months I had put most of the weight I had lost back on and was back to lounging on the sofa most days.
What’s clear to me now is that this challenge gave me a sense of pride and a sense of what could be achieved when I focused, but the big change really came a year later…..
For more information on the Thames Path 100, the first of four 100 mile ultra marathons being completed this year, please have a look here http://www.centurionrunning.com/thames-path-100-2014/