Normally when I am running I put the world to rights, I solve work problems, I dream up new projects, work out how these would work. During the first few days of the Marcothon however, I have been thinking of one thing only, how to stay on my feet. It has been seriously slippy. My mind has therefore been completely focused on this challenge Three miles is a perfect amount of training. It fits into the day well, doesn't take too much time. I would never normally venture out running when it is slippy underfoot, so the Marcothon has really motivated me and also given me more confidence in these conditions.
Day 2 slip sliding away
There was a Facebook page set up a couple of years ago and the Marcothon just took off. The power of social media in action. What started as a little challenge between a husband and wife in Glasgow has become a global event, and it seems to be growing every year. And what a fantastic community it is. It can teach us a thing or two about marketing. If people want something, you only need to connect them to each other with a shared interest and watch it snowball. There are over 1000 people doing the Marcothon now. As usual there are lessons I have learnt which I can use in my workplace, try to find a hook for people, in what may prove to be a difficult year in libraries.
Day 12 lunchtime run
I have heard about other races through this media, I have discovered the Park Runs which are held every Saturday for runners of any level. These Parkruns are just three miles in length, no pressure. They are free and are run by volunteers so yet another community is created. The organisers only ask that you volunteer three times a year and they can keep the whole thing going. They are held in various towns and cities throughout Britain and I can highly recommend them. I have known about them for quite some time but never thought they were for me. Too far to travel for so short a distance. However they can act as a type of time trial to benchmark your progress throughout the year. I will definitely now build the Falkirk Parkrun into my training schedule.
Day 29 Falkirk parkrun
The Marcothon has also helped me with my Christmas shopping. What do you get the man who has every bit of gear imagineable? Well there is always something new on the market and the posts on the Facebook pages helped me solve some shopping problems, there were even links telling me where to find the stuff.
With only a couple of days to go my Garmin watch was telling me I had ran 89 miles in December - so near to 100 miles - so I just had to run 4 on the 30th and 7 on the 31st. For the year I have totted up over 1200 miles. The Marcothon is an enjoyable and achievable challenge to undertake. The secret for me was sticking to the three miles a day whenever I could. Sometimes I felt I could have run further but to put in big mileage back to back can lead to injury
As I am coming to the end of this challenge, I am looking at the next and booking up some races for the year. This is the motivation I need for the year ahead, culminating of course in my re-scheduled New York Marathon November 2013!
