Hello, my name is Irina and I am going to run a marathon

On the first day of Lockdown 2.0, I signed up for the 2021 Brighton Marathon, scheduled for the 12th September 2021 . When I say I, I mean we, which effectively means my husband signed us up for it and I didn't give it much thought, which is probably the only way to do it... By the time it really hit me, we had already paid the registration fees and I was receiving emails from the organisers.

It's been a couple of months since then, and I have had time to let the whole thing sink in. Do I really want to run a marathon? Probably not. Do I really want to feel the pride and joy after I've done it? Oh yes! Definitely yes! (I have a feeling I'll revisit these questions many times in the next few months).

I have second-hand marathon training experience, watching friends who have done it already and I have always thought that the race itself is not necessarily the most difficult part. It's all the mental and physical 'non-marathon marathons', in the run up to the actual marathon, that make this such a demanding task. Preparation. That's the real battleground...

I have no idea how the next few months will work out but I do feel it will be an insightful, interesting but also quite scary journey. Undulating is the best word I can think of, which is a word often used by runners to describe routes. It's a well-kept secret however that when someone describes a route as undulating what they really mean is, HILLY.

So, I will be writing this blog hoping to have some company along the way. I have so many thoughts around running, which I really want to share. Maybe some funny stories? Tears? For sure! There will be lots of tears. But mostly I want to share with you the joy of running. That's what this blog is really about!

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