It's still dark outside and it's freezing. The alarm's gone and the kitchen's cold. The training plan on the wall says three hours today. Three hours of running, before most people are up.
I'm going anyway, and willpower has very little to do with it.
If you've got a big goal that keeps sliding to some day, this is for you. What got me out of that door works for nearly anything, and none of it needs you to be a natural.
A dream from the side of the road
When I was a kid I watched my dad run a local half marathon. I wrote about that day in The year I ran my Dad's race. From then on I wanted to be a distance runner.
The trouble was, I wasn't sporty. At school I was one of the last to get picked for every team. So it stayed a dream for a very long time, until I'd got my health back through juicing and some big changes to how I lived. Then I finally started running.
Dream big by all means. It's just the bit that's free.
The plan on the wall
For that first marathon I took a training plan from a book called the No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap and bent it to fit my week. Then I stuck it on the kitchen wall, where I'd see it every morning whether I wanted to or not.
There are plans for almost anything now, in books and online. Change it to fit your life. Once it's on the wall, though, do what it says.
A reason bigger than willpower
What got me out on those dark mornings was a promise. I was raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and I'd told people I'd do it. My kids were watching too. Being a decent example for them got me out of bed more times than I can count.
I'm a big believer in saying your goal out loud, in public. It makes quitting a lot more awkward. The more reasons you have, the less you need to feel like it.
The days I stopped
Have I ever quit a training run? Yes. Twice in my first two years of running I turned round and went home.
Both times I came back more determined. That's what I'd tell anyone who's had a bad day on their way to something big. One bad day doesn't undo the plan. Skipping weeks and trying to cram it all in at the end does, and you can't fake a marathon.
Then there were the hills. Getting up them is hard work, and the easy flat bits are where you get your breath back for the next one. I still think that's about the best picture of a normal week I've got.
Room at the finish line
Race day in Edinburgh taught me the biggest thing of all. It's my birthday, and the streets are lined with people. Apart from a handful of people at the front trying to win, every runner wants every other runner to finish. Strangers cheer you on and other runners pull you along. There's room at the finish line for everyone.
I haven't run a long distance since an injury in 2016. What those miles taught me hasn't gone anywhere.
First published April 2014.
