In 11 days, at 10am, I will be standing on (or a little behind!) the start line at the blue start of the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon and there is a fair chance I will be a bag of nerves.
The last 3 and a half months I have pretty much dedicated myself to training for just one day, Sunday 23rd April. At the time of writing I have covered over 420 miles in training, some have been easy and some have been very much the reverse. It’s taught me a lot about myself, some days you don’t want to run and other days everything clicks and it feels easy (or easier). I have run 20 miles three times in training, one of which was a race, so I feel like I am in a reasonably good place and even though I have ran a marathon before (2016 in Manchester) I am still fully aware of how big this challenge is!
So you may be reading this and thinking “why?!” – well it is something I have developed a desire for over the last few years, a bucket list thing if you like. I have watched it on TV at home and even seen it in person and having taken up running more seriously over the last few years, hearing all the stories, it’s made me want to ‘run London’. I was lucky enough to get a spot through my running club – Norwich Road Runners (check them out here www.norwichroadrunners.com) and appreciate the opportunity.
Running has given me a chance to meet some great people, too many to list (you know who you are) and a lot of these people have helped me get to where I am with my training and I want to say a BIG thank you to you all!
From parkruns with my brother Nick and Tubbs to evening runs with Seb and the long weekend runs with Lisa (Juice) and/or PJS, Dave or Tasha to everyone who has given me kudos on Strava over the last few months – it has been appreciated! All of you have helped me become both physically and mentally more prepared for what lies ahead. So thank you for the support and I hope I do you proud.
Working with data and numbers daily, I have also naturally compared my training this year to my training in 2016 in the form of a colourful spreadsheet and would you believe it some people have had the nerve to call me a geek for this!
Finally, running the 2017 London Marathon gives me a chance to raise some money for charity. Facial Palsy UK is a charity I feel a connection to and one I wish I had known about sooner. Many of the conditions (including Bell’s Palsy) have had very little research and can be difficult to go through mentally as well as physically. I want to help this charity support people who are going through this, some of whom have these conditions permanently.
Another big thanks to all my friends and family who have already sponsored me, but if you could spare a few quid please do!
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JonathanEagle
Wish me luck! Thanks for reading.
Jonathan
