feelings over fitness

I watched the Great North Run on Sunday. Mo won, as usual, but pushing him all the way to the line was Jake Robertson. His twin brother, Zane, was 4th. I first met the Robertsons in Iten, Kenya. They were 16 and I was 24. Over the years I got to know them very well, we were under the wing of Bro Colm for a while. We eventually fell out in spectacular fashion.

But, while I would flit between lives, spending half my time in Kenya and half in the western world, they stayed in Kenya. They trained, ate and slept amongst Kenyans every day of their young lives. They are now both reaping the rewards of that complete commitment. A commitment I was not prepared to make. They were by no means setting the world alight when they first arrived, would often finish near last, or drop out of the local races. But they kept at it until, as Jake puts it, ‘they found what they were looking for’.  Whatever else I would say about them, it was hard work that got them where they are.

I shook hands with Jake when we met back in Iten last year and I have to say he looked healthy and settled. He looked supremely good yesterday leading the Great North Run and would have beaten me by 7 minutes. Mo had to really fight for the victory and was hurting much more at the finish. Jake had the energy to propose to his girlfriend, Maggie Masai.

Back in rainy Wales, it was a great week to be tapering, as the rain did not stop. I knocked a lot of runs on the head just because I did not fancy going out in that. At this stage in the prep for Berlin marathon, it is more important to be feeling good,  rather than chasing miles and battling through horrendous conditions.

Last long run before Berlin was done on Sunday and went really well. Felt like I had hardly done anything and actually had energy to help with the kids throughout the day! It is a good sign when an 80 mile weeks feels like a week off, am starting to feel ready for the big day.