Romania vs. London

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Target - 250km

Achieved - 173.5km

Remaining - 76.5km

I have it on good authority that the London Marathon will be run with just elite athletes this year. It hasn't been officially announced but my sources are good.

London was my first ever marathon and it was an incredible experience being cheered on by the crowds on a beautiful, April day. It literally changed my life, although I didn't know it at the time. My plan was to give up running immediately afterwards yet I felt like I didn't want to waste the training and went back to it fairly quickly after the race.

To put on an event during the current pandemic would be next to impossible. How you'd keep spectators and runners two metres apart for the duration escapes me and it seems the best way of spreading a virus. I'm no expert, just a guy with a blog, mind. At this point I'm so pleased that virtual races are being offered and this one has given me such a different experience. I'm not nervous before running, wondering what could go wrong or trying to stash everything I'll need after the race such as money and cards. Instead, I go for a medium length jaunt every day and watch the kilometres stack up. I think I'll be sad to see the end of this challenge, as I was after London, and I feel like it's once again changed my perception of running.

I'll still have bad runs, terrible weather and battles with fatigue or injury yet this has shown me that I don't need to go away to make an event - I can create one at home. I hope this will continue going forward, although I'm quite fickle and will probably be clambering to apply for the marathon ballot when it next opens. Still, it feels great to be in this zone and hopefully this documentation of my thoughts will encourage me to look closer to home for challenges if I ever get lost after training again.

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