Marathon Bloggers: Lorna, 5 weeks to go!

Five weeks to go and Lorna is learning it’s ok to fail, make mistakes and get ill. She’s only human after all. And as a human she only has two feet – so when does she wear all these trainers?!

Name: Lorna Mann
Age: 29
Marathon history: First marathon – London 2013
Goal: to finish in one piece!

What I learnt this week. Yoga and I do not get on. No matter how hard I try I just can’t come to grips with the postures, I certainly cannot move with the grace it requires and I definitely cannot switch off from EVERYTHING ELSE THATS GOING ON IN MY HEAD. Nope. Yoga and I are not friends.

Lorna has two feet

I had another week of taking it easy. I had another week of driving myself crazy in the house, staring at my 13 pairs of trainers convinced that if they could they would laugh at the state I was in – but never fear, Lorna Mann is… erm… back. Again. I’ve had more comebacks during training than Britney.

I’m not going to look back at the last couple of weeks of non-training as, quite frankly, I don’t want to. I’m putting it all down to experience and moving on. I have a 16-mile race to run on Sunday and if I don’t look forward to it I’m never going to finish. I know I’ve spoken before about the need for a better attitude, and this recent setback has cemented that – if I intend to complete the marathon (and boy do I) I have to stop getting so overwhelmed by setbacks and bumps in the road and just move on. Every runner has setbacks, every runner gets ill and every runner moves on… so this is what I’m doing – with style, grace and a convincing smile on my face.

I’m a beginner, I’m still learning new things every day, no run is going to be perfect and there is no shame in that.

There is one key positive I’ve taken from the past fortnight of doom though. All my recent time at home gave me time to think – why WAS I getting so fed up about not being strong enough, not being fast enough, not clocking up the miles that ‘everyone else’ was? I couldn’t find an answer and it actually felt good to accept that. I’m a beginner, I’m still learning new things every day, no run is going to be perfect and there is no shame in that. I have come to accept that this is all a huge learning curve to me, it’s ok to make mistakes, ‘fail’ and as long as I bounce back all will be well!

So with lessons learned, challenges accepted and ego left at the door I’m holding my head up, confidently lacing up, taking each day as it comes and smiling through what will be the most physically challenging five weeks of my life to date.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to most:

Clocking up more miles than I have ever done. EVER – the next five weeks are going to take me places I’ve never seen – I’ve discovered so much of London just by training.
Completing two more races and NOT getting overwhelmed. I have the Whole Foods 16 mile Breakfast Run this Sunday and the Energiser Night Run (10K) on 13 April.
Getting into the gym and actually finishing a session with my trainer. It’s been a while since I haven’t passed out on the poor man.
Getting organised. These long runs, prepping decent meals, training sessions and a day job don’t just schedule themselves. I need to remember it’s an achievement in itself fitting all this in regardless of the end results
Working out what to wear. I’m obsessed, but I LOVE getting dressed up to run. LOVE.
Most of all I’m looking forward to that dreadful pre-race feeling that I’ve whinged about. It’s awesome… and I’m addicted… and I can’t wait!