Saturday 1 June 2013

A pre-race blog….....`What next weekend means to me"




Well here I am – less than a week to go before I toe the line in a race that I`ve thought about since I really began running…

Let me explain. In August 2008 I went on a yoga holiday on a small & peaceful island called Paros in Greece (website 
LINK ) anyway we had the afternoon off so instead of going into town with the some of the class I sat down on the beach & started to read a book. This book I guess has changed my life – I know that`s a big thing to say – I honestly believe it did & for the better too – this book was `Ultra Marathon Man ~ Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes (& is available from all good book shops :-) )

I couldn`t put it down, I stayed on that beach reading away long after they back from town (& that` is saying something as the bus schedule wasn`t up to much). I stayed long after the last of the sunseekers went. I stayed as it was getting dark (see photo above - yes it`s my twitter background pic).    I thought it was fascinating – Why would someone do that? How can you do that? Why would you enter a relay race with a team of one??  

I read that book from cover to cover in less than two days. I wanted this book to give me motivation for my forthcoming first half marathon – the Great North Run – but instead it planted a seed that has been growing away inside my head. I still take that book when I`m staying overnight for a race.
 
I was lucky enough to meet Dean at a North Face shop in London in 2011, I told him this story & armed with the book he kindly signed it – it is one of my prized procession. He also signed my `crib sheet` that I was wearing during my first Ultra (this hangs up next to my PB`s race numbers).



This book, along with many others books & various folks in the running community has opened my eyes to what is possible if you only try – people can do amazing things when they say to themselves “I CAN” & follow their DREAMS -

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF”.


Yes I will be apprehensive next Saturday but isn`t that the point of a good challenge……

Charity - LINK






 

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