I run, so you dont have to
I do not want to run the National Cross Country champs this year. I don’t want to do the 3 and a half hour drive. I don’t want to run around in the mud. I’m tired. I’d rather stay here with my family. But the problem of being an athlete/ coach, is you have to lead by example. I wouldn’t be very happy if one of my athletes said they didn’t do a race that had been in their schedule for months, because they couldn’t be bothered.
Firstly I would like to thank Russ for allowing me to gate crash his blog and make a guest appearance. For Christmas, Elliw bought me an entry to Marathon Eryri, being a race I had watched for years, and recently having moved to the area, I knew it was going to be a challenging but enjoyable debut to marathon running…
When I strip it right back, further and further, peel off every layer till I get to the very soul of it, running comes down to me versus me. Every run I have ever done, every race I have ever run, every second, was 100% me. Not 95%, not even 96%. When I next run a performance I am proud of, I want all the glory, I don’t want to share it with my enormous, expensive shoes.
I’m done with disappointments and underachieving, done with seeing my friends make it, while I don’t. I’m tired of being a zero.
I am the fastest marathon runner here. I am the current Snowdonia Marathon champion. I am the fastest descender here. I live here. I have practised this course more than anyone. This is my race. This is my time.
I see some very good runners on the start line. I’m happy they’ve come, I want to race them. I’m not afraid of anyone.
I am aiming hard for the ON Snowdonia Trail Marathon. It is the GB Trial for the World Mountain Running Champs in Argentina. I want 3 things; to win, to gain my first GB vest, and to represent GB in Argentina. I want these things so badly that I am prepared to wake up at 6am every morning for training, except on Sundays, where I wake up at 4.45am instead.
I decide to put the hammer down. I want to win, and I’m not going to hide it. The first 2 miles are uphill, the four of us are together, but I won’t let anyone past me.
