Life's journey along this random path of opportunity never ceases to amaze me, patience and in the worlds natural way of righting itself is a difficult thing to live with, but pays dividends in the end. You can never know what might lie in your path around the next bend, good or bad, its how we deal with whats presented to us and having faith ourselves to overcome and move towards the upswing. Running can often be the same, especially in a distance race. My next coastal marathon is this weekend, today's run was beautifully sunny but hotter than I'd prefer. Dealing with that extra factor will elevate what is already a significant challenge, but i have faith in my ability, both mental and physical. I've never finished a race or a run feeling worse than when i started, i know what pain to expect, and i know my wife and parents will be there to pretend I'm looking great even if I'm not, and they'll never tell me i can't do it, and I'll never give up. That feeling of confidence, justified by past performance is a powerful motivator. [3.46m - 28:20 : 08:11/m]
[Bridge carrying the Tube south over the Thames]
If life gives you lemons, you better make lemonade. Following the path of least resistance can be more challenging than striving to achieve ones preconceived goals in the face of adversity. An open-mindedness to life opportunities could be social utopia, living out ones natural course as it presents itself to you on life's journey. That however is not a widely accepted way to live in this society, we're expected to identify a goal and work towards it diligently and without compromise, whatever the cost. Success is measured by the effort and sacrifice made to achieve those goals. The question is, is that sacrifice worthwhile? maybe it is, maybe not, hindsight brings answers, but the risk is regret. Be the change you want to see? its a mantra of confidence, dismissive of doubt and weakness, as valuable to the runner in me as in my daily life, but equally difficult to live by. It speaks of effort and dedication, which every runner knows of, and the payback that's forthcoming. Its translation to everyday life is the real challenge. [3.75m - 31:35 - 08:25/m]
[Settlers of an Eco village, an example to us all]
When to run? when you feel guilty? because of its scheduled? because you slept well and feel full of energy? ... those are all great times to do so, however nothing like as satisfying as running when you don't want to, when you feel weak and tired, when you've driven in a truck to Sweden helping a friend move countries. Running when it seams most unlikely to do so has always given me back the most unexpected joy. [2.31m - 20:13 - 08:45/m]
[The Turning Turso, Sweden]
Sometimes I have to run, whether I want to or not, my wife knows when, and she tells me. It always clears my mind, gives me space and perspective and time. First run today in a week after last weeks marathon on the Cornish coast, and only three weeks until next months marathon on Exmoor, my race strategy was much stronger last week, I'm going to work on cross training a little more during these next weeks, build a little more leg and core strength and scale back the mileage since there is only 3 weeks until the race. Today i put in a solid 6 miles or so into the city to catch the Gumball 3000 start from London to New York; saw Michael Madsen, Xibit, Trinity Jade Jagger and Eve, who looked as stunning as the stickered up dream cars about to drive thousands of miles across Europe and North America, all within the speed limit of course. You just never know what or who you're gonna see when you lace up and hit the road. [6.24m - 51:12 - 08:11/m]
[Eve at the Gumball 3000 on Pall Mall]