The Goal

The training guide has this to say about running a first marathon:

"First and most important, reaffirm the goal in your mind.  It is to finish the marathon.  Period."

No target time.  No target pace.  Not to beat other people.  No weight loss goals.  The latter doesn't apply to me (I've been giving my body so much fuel I've gained weight - eek!) but until a month ago I was thinking about my time.  Perhaps I could do it in less than four hours...

But things have changed and all thoughts of a stunning debut marathon performance have long since faded.  Now the only thing I want to do is cover the 26.2 miles.

Tonight I saw Jennie and she's happy for me to start the marathon and see how it goes.

So, barring disasters in the next 3.5 days, the plan is to start the marathon, listen to my body and see how far I can go, irrespective of how long it takes.  In some ways I'm back where I started: nervous and excited in equal measure.