With less than three weeks to go now, I’m in the crucial stage of preparation. Having done a magnificent 15 miles on Sunday, my longest training miles are now behind me and the tapering begins. Much more than that, though, is the start of the mental preparation.

Sunday’s long run taught me a few things:
1. My legs have strengthened to the extent where I at last feel confident that they can carry me round the distance without suffering with every step from the start.
2. That I’ve still got some training to go, as I was very, very tired after the 15.
3. It’s not just about the legs – my shoulders and stomach ached after that distance.
4. That I need to be mentally stronger.

Doing anything physically difficult for a long time requires mental strength, and the marathon is right up there in the mentally-demanding stakes. In training and at race time, your brain knows that you don’t have to run. There’s no monster chasing you. Your life is not in danger. Stopping would actually be preferable to contining to run. You override this fact by ambition at the start, but soon the different factions inside your head meet and the debate begins:

“So, you’re saying that we don’t have to be running right now?”
“Well, no. But he wants to. He’s doing it for some reason or another.”
“Ok. But it would be sooooo much easier if we stop now.”
“Well, yes, obviously. But -”
“And we’re not going to finish anywhere particularly great?”
“Only back home.”
“Where we started?”
“Errr, yes.”
“Two sodding hours ago?”
“Um, yeah. You have a point, I guess.”
“So it’s agreed: we stop.”
“No!… Yes….Noooo! We can’t!”
“I’m stopping the legs in 5 seconds unless I get a better argument…”

This is where you bring in the cavalry, the pre-planned, Oh-Shit-You’re-In-Trouble-Blast-The-Doubters-Override-Special-Voice:

“FULFILL YOUR DREAM
REACH YOUR GOAL
YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH”

“What the? Who said that? Wha-”

“FULFILL YOUR DREAM
REACH YOUR GOAL
YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH”

“What was I about to do? Something about stopping?”

“FULFILL YOUR DREAM
REACH YOUR GOAL
YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH”

“I forget now. Maybe we should carry on. I can’t think with all these words…”

These three lines are a little mantra that I concocted the other day to help me banish all other thoughts. This was my cavalry, and as above, it worked to banish thoughts of quitting. My goal was 15 miles and I had to reach it. When I was flagging, telling myself I had the strength told my body not to worry – I really DID have the strength.

But I’m going to need more than that, as like any remedy, sometimes you can become too familiar and the effects lessen. By 14 miles, I could already picture the factions in my head putting on earmuffs and emailing each other their plot to stop the madness.

So right now I’m preparing the songs I’m going to sing in my head, the stories I can recall, the dreams I can try to hide myself into as I let my body do its thing that it’s trained to do for all these months. With the crowd and the whole experience, I hope to be prepared from top to bottom when I step over the start line.

According to my Nike+ gadget, I’ve now done 100 miles of training…wahoo!

Sure, I’d liked to have done double that by now, but it’s an achievement nevertheless. Note that I’ve probably been out of action for at least six weeks of the four months since I started training, each time having to slowly come back into it. I’m back doing regular runs – 13 miles spread over the last 6 days – and hope to be working my way up to the longer runs from next week. There’s little room for error – I can’t afford any injuries now as this really is my crucial period. Picking up a slight injury or cold at the end of October might not scupper my chances as I have to wind down my training then, but now I need to go through the gears and need to do a thirteen-miler at least once.

So what have I learned in these last 100 miles? How about these for starters:

1. I need to be very careful with my legs! Shins, knees, groin, calves, thighs have all given me various degrees of trouble, so I really need to protect them.
2. Suddenly pushing it is not a good idea. Running well gives you a rush, and at times a feeling of invincibility; some runs you feel you could take on the world. THIS IS DANGEROUS! If you want to push it, do it a little at a time. Run a bit faster tomorrow, not see how fast you can go today and pay big time tomorrow.
3. Treadmills are kinder than pavements, but are not the real thing. Treadmills are my friend in injury, but will lull me into a false sense of security if I’m not careful. New York is not one big rolling belt.
4. Not to care how I look running. Look like drowned rat? Fine. Running style ragged after five miles? So what. Stupid-looking long socks? Yeah but they keep me going. Pink charity running vest? Well, I haven’t got mine yet!
5. Everyone gives you different advice – seek more than one opinion and work out what is right for you.
6. That people can be wonderfully supportive and confident in you. Even when you’re not!
7. How to keep positive and to draw inspiration. It’s just as mental as physical at times.
8. How much I really want and need to do this marathon. I wanted a challenge and I hate to fail.
9. That blogging is quite fun! Even if I have no idea how many of you read this, it’s for me just as much as other people.
10. Finally, that the worst – and best – is yet to come.