The countdown has officially begun.<\/p>\n
One month to go until I stand on that start line in Greenwich, surrounded by thousands of runners, all of us carrying our own reasons for being there.<\/p>\n
And suddenly, it feels very real.<\/p>\n
For months, the London Marathon<\/a> has been something in the distance, a date circled in the calendar, a goal I have been slowly working towards in early mornings, cold evenings, and miles that felt never-ending.<\/p>\n But now, with just four weeks to go, it is no longer something for the future.<\/p>\n It is almost here.<\/p>\n Training has taken over my routine in a way I did not quite expect.<\/p>\n Weekends are no longer for lie-ins or last-minute plans.<\/p>\n They are for long runs.<\/p>\n The kind where you set off not entirely sure how your legs will hold up, but you keep going anyway.<\/p>\n There have been good runs, where everything clicks and you feel like you could go on forever.<\/p>\n And then there have been the tough ones, with heavy legs, aching feet, and that constant internal battle to not just stop and walk home.<\/p>\n But every mile has been building towards this.<\/p>\n Sun out, trainers on, getting the miles in for marathon day (Image: NQ staff)<\/p>\n What has surprised me most is how much of the marathon is mental.<\/p>\n Yes, the physical training matters, the miles, the pacing, the consistency, but it is the mindset that really carries you through.<\/p>\n It is learning how to keep going when you are tired, how to push through doubt, and how to remind yourself why you started in the first place.<\/p>\n Because everyone has a reason.<\/p>\n And this is mine.<\/p>\n