Training Advice

Start building a solid training base and take the first steps towards achieving your marathon goals.

Whatever your ability and ambition, you’ll find the articles below to kick-start your training and guarantee success next time you race.

Ten Top Motivation Tips

Everyone has days when they just don’t feel like getting out to run – days when the sofa, or the pub, seem like a much more tempting option. But if you’re preparing for a marathon or another race then you need to find ways to stay motivated to ensure your training stays on track. The next time you struggle to get out of the door, follow our 10 top motivation tips…

  1. Set a goal.
    Having a target in mind for each run, even if it is just to complete the whole thing without walking, will deliver a sense of accomplishment. Whether it’s running a bit further or faster than last time, or just reaching a certain point, hitting a goal on every run will help to stay motivated as you work towards a bigger goal, such as finishing your first marathon.

 

  1. Run with friends.
    You can’t underestimate the social side of running; it is one of the most common reasons people start and carry on doing it. Finding a local running club or gathering some friends or colleagues to run with you can make every session both easier and more enjoyable.

 

  1. Keep track of your progress.
    Completing a training log, or using an online service to keep a record of your runs, can really help to motivate you to continue. By looking back at previous entries, you’ll remind yourself how far you have come, which is sure to encourage you to keep challenging yourself to give your best.

 

  1. Remember the health benefits.
    Don’t forget that running is good for you. Whether you’re looking to lose weight or improve your fitness, running gives back what you put into it. It’s also a great stress buster thanks to the feel-good endorphins produced during exercise.

 

  1. Do it for a good cause.
    If you’re not already raising money for a charity in a race then signing up to fundraise will give you a huge motivation boost. Knowing that what you’re doing will provide funds to help a good cause should keep you going when you’re feeling low.

 

 

  1. Mix it up.
    David Hylton, co-founder of #RunChat, says: “Running is simple. Preventing it from getting boring is simpler.” HyIton turns this maxim into reality by injecting variety into his running sessions. You can do the same by trying something different: hill repeats, a track session, signing up for a trail race. You could even just run somewhere new to freshen up your routine.

 

  1. Don’t take the ‘all or nothing’ approach.
    If you’re short on time or really not feeling up to a long session, just go for a shorter run for however long you feel you can spare. As legendary running author Dr George Sheehan once said: “Have you ever felt worse after a run?”

 

  1. Reward yourself.
    A sports massage, or treating yourself to some new running gear, is a great way to reenergise your running as you’ll want to get outside to show off your new kit. You could also promise yourself a new pair of trainers, or the latest running gadget as an incentive too when you’re targeting a big goal.

 

 

  1. Look to other runners for inspiration.
    Which athletes do you most look up to? Many big-name runners have written books about their amazing exploits and how they pushed themselves to achieve greatness. Read about someone who has inspired you to see what you can take from their lives into your own training.

 

  1. Have something to look forward to.
    A treat of some kind at the end of your run is a great way to keep yourself focused and ensure you give your best until the end. It could be a good meal, sitting down to watch your favourite TV show or finishing your run somewhere with a great view. Now get out there and put these can’t fail tips into practice!

Before You Start Training

Before you begin your training for the Selous Marathon, we recommend you pay your doctor a visit for a once over. They will be able to offer advice tailored to you, taking your medical history into account.

Heart problems

A fitness test isn’t always enough to detect heart problems, so if anything in the list below applies to you, it’s best to get a full cardiac assessment before you take up running.

  • There’s a history of heart disease or sudden death in your family.
  • You suffer chest pains or discomfort when you exert yourself.
  • You experience sudden shortness of breath.
  • You have rapid heart palpitations.

Medical conditions

If you’ve got a serious medical condition you can still enter the Selous Marathon but we’ll need agreement from your doctor, and details of your condition and treatment.

Please check with your doctor before you enter the Selous Marathon ballot, then if you secure a place, please send your medical details and doctor’s note to us.

If there’s a risk you may blackout during the race (for example if you suffer from fits), please mark your runner number in these ways:

  • Put a red cross on the front of your number.
  • Write the details of your condition and treatment on the back of your number.

Are you ready for Selous Marathon?

If you feel ill on race day it’s important to withdraw from the race. Most medical emergencies at the marathons happen because people who aren’t well enough to run try to continue. Even if you make it to the finish, you’re unlikely to enjoy the day or give your best performance.

Don’t feel pressured to run because you’ve been building up to it or have collected sponsorship money – you’ll be able to defer your place for a year if you follow our race withdrawal procedure.

It’s also important to withdraw from the race if you’re not fully prepared. You should have a good indication of your fitness from your training, but as a benchmark, if you can’t comfortably run 15 miles a month before the race, you probably won’t be able to safely complete the Selous Marathon.

Staying Safe on the Run

Training outdoors is a great way to stay fit and motivated in the run up to the Selous Marathon, but it’s important to consider your safety before venturing outdoors.

Check out these top tips for a safe training session:

Planning your training route

  • Try to avoid deserted areas and train in well lit, populated places. This is especially important if you’re training alone or in the dark.
  • Look for places along your route you could use as potential help points, like garages or shops.
  • Try to avoid areas where people could easily conceal themselves, for example pathways surrounded by bushes.
  • Circular routes are safest because you don’t have to retrace your steps and head back towards areas where you may have felt threatened or uneasy.
  • If possible, test your route first by walking it or taking the car. It’s a good sign if other people are using the route already, so keep that in mind as you look around.
  • If possible, train with a friend or join a running group. They’ll be able to recommend tried and tested routes, and you can also use our route plannerto check out other runners’ favourite routes.
  • You can use our marathon communityto find a training partner, but before you go out for a run with someone new, get to know them and feel confident you can trust them.
  • It’s a good idea to tell someone when you’re going out for a run, and give them details of your route and the time you expect to be back. If you arrange to let them know when you arrive home, they can raise the alarm if they don’t hear from you.

Training at night

  • Avoid wearing dark clothes when you train at night, particularly if you have to cross roads or take narrow paths - the traffic won’t be able to see you. Ideally you should wear high visibility clothing with reflective strips or a luminous running bib. At the very least, pulling a white t-shirt on over your running gear will help get you noticed.
  • A head torch will help you see and be seen, whilst keeping your hands free. They’re ideal for rural areas with less street lighting. Head torches are cheap to buy and you can get them from most mountaineering and camping shops.

What to wear and take with you on a training session

  • Avoid wearing hooded tops or caps which restrict your vision.
  • Think carefully about what you wear when you’re out training – some sportswear can attract unwanted attention.
  • Be careful if you wear headphones because you’ll be distracted from your surroundings, and you might not be able to hear trouble approaching. Carrying an expensive music player may also make you a target for thieves.
  • Take off expensive jewellery and watches before you leave home, or keep them out of sight. A secure pocket or bum bag is a handy way to store possessions while you train.
  • Take your mobile phone with you so you can call for help if you need to, or let people know if your plans change.
  • Take some cash or a travel card so you can get home if you’re unable to carry on by foot.
  • Carry a personal safety alarm and keep it close to hand, for example clipped to your side. Make sure it’s at least 130 decibels loud - setting off a loud alarm will shock and disorientate an attacker, giving you time to get away.
  • If you’re not completely sure of your route take a map with you. Use our route plannerto view and print off your route in advance.

How to avoid dangerous situations

  • Be aware of everything going on around you, particularly ahead. The earlier you spot a danger the more chance you have of avoiding it.
  • Trust your instincts. If a situation doesn’t look or feel right get away as soon as you can.
  • It’s fine to push yourself while you’re training, but make sure you’ve always got enough energy left so you could get away in an emergency.
  • If you’re ill or injured while you’re out running, don’t try to carry on. Find a safe way home and don’t be tempted to use dangerous shortcuts, or accept a lift from someone you don’t know.
  • Try and vary your route and the time you go out so your movements don’t become too predictable.
  • If you’re running or walking near a road, always face the oncoming traffic and avoid getting close to parked cars with people in them.
  • If you’re running in a group, make sure nobody is left on their own at the back. If someone in the group can’t continue, make sure they get home safely.
  • If you’re running in a public area and you can see a way to make the surroundings safer, for example cutting back bushes or improving the street lighting, let the local council know and they might be able to fix it.

What to do if you feel threatened while you’re out training

  • Try not to panic. Control your breathing to relieve tension and help you think clearly about your next move.
  • If possible, head for the nearest public place to find people who can help you.
  • Verbal abuse can be insulting and upsetting but if you become a victim of it, try to ignore it and keep going.
  • Dogs can be a problem while you’re out training because it’s often difficult to tell if they’re a threat or not. Rather than run away from a dog, it’s best to stop and shout “No”, “Down” or “Sit”. Look for the owner and ask them to call their dog away.
  • If you’re threatened for your possessions, your personal safety should be your number one priority. Possession can be replaced, so give them up if it means you avoid getting hurt.
  • If you’re trapped your voice is often your best defence. Make as much noise as possible and shout specific instructions like “Call the police” so people who hear you will know what to do.
  • Report any incidents to the police as soon as you can – it could prevent someone else becoming a victim next time.
     

Hill Running

Running uphill is hard work but it can give a real boost to your training, putting you through an intense workout in a short space of time. Here’s what you need to know:

Plan your route

Take a look at your regular training routes and see if they already include any hills. If not, have a think about how you could alter your routes, or use our route planner to find a new run in your area.

Approach it gently

Like any type of exercise, if you’re new to hill running you need to approach it sensibly. Start with gentle hills, short distance and a slow pace, gradually building up the intensity.

Running uphill will work your muscles in a different way to flat road running, so to avoid injury you need to let your body adjust. Your legs will feel more tired than usual after hill running, so try running a little slower the following day to help them recover before your next session.

Top tips

Once you’re acclimatised to hills, here are our tips to help you get the most from your hill running sessions:

  • Be prepared to attack the hill before you reach it, so you’ve picked up pace as you reach the bottom.
  • As you run up the hill pump your arms and shorten the length of your strides, but take faster strides to keep up the pace.
  • At the end of your hill running workout, you should feel like you’ve worked hard, but you could manage one more hill if you had to.
  • Get plenty of practice – it’s the only way to get better at hill running and improve your technique.

Example workouts

Here are some hill workouts you might like to try during your training for the Selous Marathon. Start with the beginner’s workout, moving onto the next when you’re ready. Don’t forget to have a thorough warm up before you start each session.

Beginner

Run 100m uphill and repeat 6 to 8 times, walking back slowly to the start each time to allow your legs to recover. Start with gentle hills, getting steeper as you progress.

Intermediate

Run 100 to 150m uphill and repeat 10 times, jogging back gently to the start each time. When you’ve done this, jog for 5 to 10 minutes then repeat.

Advanced

Make sure you build up gently to this workout – it’s tough and takes around 2 hours to complete. Repeat the following steps 3 times:

            Step 1
Run 100m uphill and repeat 8 times, jogging back gently to the start each time.

Step 2
Jog for 5 minutes.

Step 3
Run 200m uphill and repeat 4 times, jogging back gently to the start each time.

Step 4
Jog for 5 minutes.

Step 5
Run 100m uphill and repeat 8 times, jogging back gently to the start each time.

Step 6
Jog for 5 minutes.

 

 

RECOVERY RULES

After you’ve completed the Selous Marathon, you’ll need to take things easy for a while - you’ll probably be suffering some muscle cell damage and your immune system will be at a low. Read on for our tips to aiding your recovery.

Elevate your legs

Immediately after the race elevate your legs if you can – for example, find a tree and lie under it with your legs raised against the trunk for 10 minutes. This will help reduce the build up of fluid in your legs. This is particularly important for injury prone runners.

Nutrition

Your body can only store a limited amount of energy in your muscles (around 600g of carbohydrate and a small amount of fat). During the Selous Marathon your body will use up these stores, and then it will move on to your liver, fat cells, and the food and fluid you’ve consumed to get its energy supply.

So, before and after the race it’s important you eat well and increase your carbohydrate intake. This will give you maximum energy stores before you begin and help replenish them afterwards.

Hydration plays an equally important part in your recovery. Drink before, during, and after the race - little and often to avoid the risk of over hydrating.

Relaxation and sleep

Make sure you plan time for rest and relaxation after the race. Going straight back to work the next day will only slow your recovery.

Also try to get some sleep in the day during your recovery period. 20 to 40 minute naps are recommended, any longer than this and you may find it harder to sleep at night.

Ice and cold water

Ice and cold water can be used to help relieve any pain you might be feeling after the Selous Marathon. Sit in a bath or pool of cold water to ease pain in your legs, or wrap ice in a wet towel to target a particular area. Don’t put ice directly on to your skin without a towel because this could cause an ice burn.

Gentle exercise

If you’re going to exercise in the days after the race, start with walking. A steady 15 or 20 minute walk will help get you back into the swing of things and help your legs recover, without putting your body under too much strain. You can then build this up to gentle jogging and low intensity running. Check out our guide to getting back into your training programme after the Selous Marathon.

Throughout your training, going for gentle runs between hard sessions is important. Discover more information about tapering your training programme, and why it’s equally important to recover before the race.

Running on soft surfaces

Running on the road is tough on your muscles, joints and tendons, so when you start exercising again after the race, keep to soft surfaces like grass to reduce soreness. Please note, in wet weather you’ll need to be careful in case the grass becomes slippery, and you’ll also need footwear designed for off road training.

Swimming

Like running on soft surfaces, exercising in water is low impact and great for your recovery.

The water pressure will also help to remove the waste products and extra fluid that have built up in your legs from all that running. Another benefit of swimming is that it gets your arms working too, so you won’t deplete the energy stores in your leg muscles any further.

Contrast therapy

Contrast therapy takes your body from cold to hot several times in a short period. It has similar benefits to using ice and cold water, only it’s more intensive and will leave you feeling refreshed and wide awake.

After sitting in a cold bath or applying ice to your body, go straight into a hot shower or spa pool. Stay there until you feel hot and your legs are flushed red with blood. Then go back to the cold water or ice, and repeat the process several times.

Massage

Many runners get a sports massage after the Selous Marathon. If you don’t regularly get massages and you’re not used to them, just get a very light massage or ‘recovery rub’.

Strike a Balance

Half a century ago, American marathoner Buddy Edelen snuck out for a 40-minute run on his rest day. Edelen was the first man to break 2:15 for 26.2 miles, yet he suffered the same crisis of confidence about taking days off that plague most competitive runners. “This is a manifestation of uncertainty,” scolded Edelen’s coach, according to the Edelen biography, A Cold Clear Day by Frank Murphy. “There is a time to train and a time to rest – not halfway rest.”

But as Edelen no doubt felt, it’s tempting to focus your training on building towards harder workouts, and schedule rest when your body ‘needs’ it. Since Edelen broke the 2:15- barrier in 1963, numerous studies have found that inexperienced runners make exactly this mistake, steadily increasing training until fatigue or injury forces them to stop then repeating the cycle.

Experienced athletes are more likely to deliberately plan their recovery. By taking a rest before its necessary, they end up accumulating more training overall. Since fatigue accumulates on different time scales – a long run may deplete your glycogen stores for the next day, while joint, tendon and muscle problems may emerge weeks later – it’s a good idea to try to start ‘periodising’ your recovery using the following cycles as your guide.

Microcycle length: seven days

The classic approach is to take one day of complete rest every week. But you may need to add rest days or alter their intensity. Logging less than 30 miles per week? Take two rest days. If you’re at 60 or more miles, schedule a full day off every other week but do one day of jogging or light cross-training during the ‘on’ week.

Mesocycle length: between two to four weeks

Periodically reduce your mileage by 20 to 25 per cent for one week to consolidate gains. If you’re building up after a break, increase mileage by up to 10 per cent for three weeks before taking a down week. Once you’re back to pre-break mileage or at a mileage you’ve comfortably handled in the recent past, alternate two up weeks with one down week. If you’re pushing into new territory, alternate one up and one down. Resume mileage where you left off after the cut-back week.

Macrocycle length: between four to six months

Runners often race throughout the year without taking any significant breaks, which then leaves them vulnerable to injuries and burnout. Break the year into two or three macrocycles, each ending with a goal race followed by a week-long break. During that seven-day period, cross-train, rest and/or do light jogging (limit light jogs to four). Take one 14-day break every year – this includes one week of no running followed by a week of cross-training or easy jogging.

What kind of rest? Let your body dictate cross-training, light jog or day off.

IF YOU FEEL...

DO THIS...

Physically exhausted, or
especially achy

Complete rest. Don’t feel guilty: you need it

Stale and unmotivated

Active leisure. Go for a walk or leisurely bike ride, play tennis, have fun – but don’t train at the intensity of a run

Fatigue in muscles and joints but otherwise fresh

Cross-train. Hit the bike, pool or elliptical machine

Fresh and ready to go

Light jog. Do up to 50 per cent of the distance of a typical run at a super-easy pace

 

How to Stick to Your Running Resolutions

Make this year your best yet by following physiotherapist Scott Mitchell’s essential guide to keeping your New Year’s resolutions on track

Every year it’s the same. After the Christmas celebrations and excesses the New Year looms, guilt sets in and we start to think about making New Year’s resolutions. As you are reading this article, we’ll assume that running is part of your New Year health kick. Congratulations! Running is one of the best ways to get fit, become stronger and, when combined with sensible nutrition, is great for managing weight. It is relatively cheap in terms of equipment and once you have the kit, the roads, as they say, are always open.

However, problems can arise when you set goals (or even worse, fail to set any goals) and then jump in too quickly as you may pick up an injury or lose focus, fall back into old routines and stop running. I want to share what I’ve learnt from my experiences both as an athlete and a physio working with runners so you can get the most out of your training and stick to your New Year’s resolutions.

The first thing is to work out what you want to achieve; what’s your ultimate running goal? It is worth sitting down and having a good think about what is going to inspire you to work hard over the next year. Often when committing to exercise, part of the goal will involve weight management and then, of course, there are the performance-related targets. Perhaps the ultimate goal could be a reward for all the hard work and reaching short term targets through the course of the year, like a trip to race in an exotic destination. Many people will be looking to run Selous Marathon for the first time, while others will be looking to run faster times. Whatever you decide, make it ambitious but also work out achievable short-term goals and consider the following points…

Planning

Runners will often set grand targets, usually time-focused, and naturally want to see quick results but often they don’t know how to plan towards a goal or how to structure a programme to chip away at the bigger target. Even the obvious planning required to fit training sessions into your daily schedule can be a difficult problem to overcome.

Planning a whole training schedule in a way that will allow your body to become stronger and adapt to handling progressively harder sessions and larger volumes of training requires a good understanding of what different sessions target and how the body responds to exercise. You often need to be flexible and ready to adjust the schedule depending on how you react. This isn’t always predictable so getting good quality advice is priceless.

If you’re training for a marathon, check out top running coach Martin Yelling's 16-week training schedule, or head to www.runnersworld.co.uk where you’ll find structured and safe programmes to help you to reach your goal. You can also tap into the knowledge of members of your local running club, where there will be runners of varying levels of experience, or qualified coaches who can work with you directly or by correspondence, writing and continually adjusting programmes based on your feedback. The experience of a coach can help to make sure you don’t push too hard, too fast but also that you aren’t being too soft.

Finally, plan your recovery. Recovery should be written into your programme as rest or easy sessions but also includes nutrition, stretching, trigger pointing or massage and it is just as important as going for your runs. Think of it as giving your body a chance to soak up the training and an opportunity to deal with the negative effects of training such as excessive tightness, which can lead to injury.

Conditioning

The early stages of your programme are important for getting into a routine and, while fairly light in terms of running, they are an opportunity to focus on conditioning exercises to prepare you for what is to come. Conditioning work should include strength, mobility, stability and technical exercises to develop good running form.

For new runners it is important to work on developing general strength but if you have a history of injury then you should also target the areas you’ve had trouble with in the past. This becomes a little more complicated so it’s important to get advice from a physiotherapist who understands running and conditioning or a conditioning coach who has experience in running and rehabilitation.

As the amount of running increases you may have less time to spend on conditioning but try hard to devote some of your schedule to it and you will be rewarded with better movement, faster progression and reduced risk of injury.

Consistency

The importance of consistency can’t be overstated. It really is the holy grail of running. Avoiding injury and progressing through a whole programme without interruption is what everyone works towards. It is better to have a modest schedule that allows you to slowly develop as a runner rather than an intense programme that leads to excessive overload and injury.

The time spent on the treatment table means we start to lose the gains made from training, we fall out of the habit of training, our goals start to look less achievable and motivation suffers. Of course, we advise runners to cross-train while doing the specific rehab work to recover from an injury, but the break in routine can be a massive test of conviction.

Motivation

Motivation can come from different places. We will be motivated by reaching small goals, seeing improvements in speed or the distances we run and we can give ourselves rewards for achieving short-term goals. We can also be motivated by training partners or clubs, which help us to push that little bit harder or just get us out to train in the cold, dark and wet when we could just as easily head to the pub.

Running is an individual sport but, like boot camps, it motivates people to get out in the rain or at the crack of dawn and being a member of a group means that even if you don't particularly feel like training, you will not want to let your mates down so you’ll be there regardless. Looking for clubs near you is easy on the social media like Instagram Pages, Jogging Clubs and Also Athletic websites.

When you are starting out, improvements will often occur rapidly. The problem is that the rate of improvement can also become slower as you progress, which can be demoralising, but it can also tempt you to push harder to maintain the rate of progression. The obvious result is overuse injury. It’s at these times when the returns start to drop that motivation will be tested and you will need to work steadily, be consistent and patient.

The resolutions you make need to be based around your long-term goals and need to be sustainable changes in behaviour that you can fit into your life and help to motivate you to carry on. Whatever your running goals this year, good luck!

Scott Mitchell is a physiotherapist and founder of Move Clinics.

Seven Essential Marathon Training Tips

Author and marathon runner Michael McEwan shares his best advice to help keep your training on track.

Train like you’ll race

As much as possible, I try to ensure that my longer training runs closely replicate the conditions I’ll face on Race Day. For example, the mass start for the London Marathon is normally at 10:00. Consequently, I try to start my longer runs every Sunday morning around the same time. This gives me the opportunity to rehearse my Race Day routine many times before the day itself.

Things like knowing what time you need to set your alarm for, when to eat breakfast and, just as importantly, what to eat for breakfast are essential aspects of your preparation. That way, when marathon morning dawns, nothing should feel new or uncharted; you’ll be in a well practised routine and comfortable with running at that particular time of the day on that particular day of the week.

Focus on the dot

Some runs are better than others. That’s just the way it goes. Some days, you feel light and bouncy; others, you feel heavy and sluggish. To help you through the latter, it helps to have something to focus on. That’s why I always draw a small dot on my left hand, between my thumb and my forefinger. I call it my ‘totem’ and it is designed to act as an emotional trigger that focuses my mind on something else when I can feel negative thoughts starting to materialise. That dot can represent anything you like: a family member, a lost loved one, a favourite place, a post-marathon holiday - you choose. All that matters is that it diverts your mind away from unhelpful thoughts.

It is a trick that helped golfer Louis Oosthuizen maintain both his concentration and composure as he closed in on Open Championship glory in 2010. Having such a visual stimulus and giving it a pre-assigned meaning or value is invaluable.

Use social media...

Training for a marathon can be a lonely experience. A brilliant, rewarding and invigorating experience but a lonely one, too. That’s where social media comes into its own. I’ve found that sharing pictures and updates on my progress has been extremely beneficial, particularly on Instagram, where fellow marathon runners can find and communicate with one another using simple hashtags like #AugustIsForSelousMarathon   #CelebrateLife and #RunForPurpose. The confidence boost that you get from a random stranger liking your sweaty photo or leaving a message of encouragement is enormous.

It’s great to see pictures of other people’s progress, too. It reminds you of the scale of the race and of the shared sacrifices those marathon runners all make. That, in it, is wonderfully unifying.

...But don’t overuse it

One downside of social media is that it can make you obsessed with what other people are doing and, if you’re not careful, against all reasonable judgement, you’ll start to compare yourself to them. You might, for example, notice that somebody has clocked up more miles than you during a particular week, or has less rest days than you, or is eating and drinking different things to you, or appears to be further ahead with their training than you are – and I guarantee that your first instinct will be to panic. Don’t. Just because their training plan isn’t the same as yours doesn’t mean it’s better.

People train differently. So what? Accept that and commit 100 per cent to your own schedule.

Treat yourself

Crossing the Finish Line shouldn’t be your only reward for committing to and completing a marathon. It is, in fact, just as important to treat yourself throughout your training. Not in an obscenely self-indulgent way (nor, for that matter, in such a way that you are going to undermine all of the hard work you’ve been putting in). Instead, reward your efforts in a way that keeps you motivated and ‘on plan’. As an example, if I feel I’ve trained particularly well for, say, the first three or four weeks of my training schedule, I might treat myself to a new running top. Two things about that: one, you get the very superficial kick that comes with buying something new; two, you get the more subliminal benefit of wanting desperately to go out and run again to try out your new top.

Accept pain

Running a marathon requires dedication and determination, and it will, unquestionably, hurt at some point. If it didn’t, more people would do it. Don’t waste energy worrying about the possibility of pain. Instead, accept it for the inevitability that it is. If you can, even try to embrace it. Why? Because the pain will pass but the memories and satisfaction of being a marathon runner will last for the rest of your life.

Don’t let it become bigger than it is

It is easy to let the significance of events and occasions amplify in your own mind, sometimes to such an extent that they become intimidating. That’s counter-productive. Instead, never ever forget that the basic principle of completing a marathon involves putting one foot in front of the other between two pre-defined points. Left, right, left, right, left right, as fast or as slow as you like. That’s all there is to it. One foot, then the other, over and over, until it’s done. That’s as tough as it needs to be.

You can do this. Believe me, you can.