Running

It definitely feels like a chore - most of the runs I'm doing at the moment just feel like I'm doing them to rack up the miles.

The training plan can be pretty oppressive too - having to do a certain distance at a certain pace can be soul destroying. I know you can be flexible and you don't have to follow it to the letter, but there still has to be some structure at least.

In the end, my reason for running has been eroded away - I run because I enjoy it, the high I get on a long run, the different things I see, the level of fitness...

At the moment I feel like I'm running just to do the marathon - but because I've lost a lot of fitness and toning because of the injury, it doesn't hold the same appeal as it used to - I want it to be an achievement that shows I'm at the peak of my physical fitness, rather than the fact I struggled through training and hated every second of it - where's the reward in that?

Try and mix it up a bit - the important training for FLM is doing the weekly long run at a steady pace; in between, how about doing the odd race as a change - if you are in South/SW London, there is a weekly 5k race on a Saturday morning on Wimbledon Common at 9am - its free and you just need to pre-register.