Maranoia Mara(thon) - (Para)noia
As I write this, I'm just 281 hours and seven minutes away from the starting line of my first marathon since April 2019 in Brighton. Not that I'm counting, or that I'm feeling terribly anxious about my current readiness to even finish. But I know this is just classic maranoia, a term used to describe the feeling of paranoia or anxiety that some runners experience in the weeks leading up to a marathon. It's a common phenomenon among runners, and I'm certainly not immune to it.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually normal, or if I'm just intent on making my life as difficult as possible. I've started a new job, taken on a lot of work for the BTR charity, and combined all of that with marathon training, leaving me feeling spent and exhausted. On top of all that, my race calendar looks like I've put every type of race in a blender and come up with a 9-week race schedule consisting of two marathons, a lowlands 50-mile ultra, and a 50k mountain ultra.
It's overwhelming, to say the least. But thankfully, my brain is wired to be pragmatic. I've treated each day of training as an opportunity to train and recover with intent and purpose. I've incorporated more strength and conditioning, as well as mobility work into this block. I've even put in about 15 hours of cross-training on my spin bike (which I hate). Ultimately, when I cross the finish line of the UTS on the evening of May 13th, I'll be able to look back at this period of training and racing with pride and a sense of accomplishment, ready for the second half of 2023!
Here's a rundown of the races I've completed and the ones I have coming up:
Completed Races:
Feb 4th - Trail - Maverick West Sussex (Middle) - 12.5km - 56:18 - 4:27/km
Feb 26th - Road - Brighton Half Marathon - 8.5km (Aborted) - 33:41 - 3:53/km
March 4th - Trail - Maverick Hampshire (Middle) - 17.5m - 56:18 - 4:26/km
Upcoming Races:
March 19th - Road - Barcelona Marathon
April 8th - Trail - Centurion South Downs Way 50 miles
April 23rd - Road - London Marathon
May 13th - Mountain - Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50k
As you can see, I have some tough races ahead of me, but I'm determined to see them through to the end. It won't be easy, but I know I have the strength and perseverance to make it happen. And who knows, maybe I'll even surprise with a myself with a half decent result along the way.
What’s that up there! My fitness??
