Why I won’t be running a marathon in my flat (but why I’ll continue to cheer for those that do.)

I spoke to an old friend this week and she said:

“we might all be in the same boat but we aren’t all looking at the same map”.

We were actually talking about work (and gardens), how individual circumstances shape impact and the relevance of executive coaching and understanding wellbeing to the current situation.

In my (on hold) day job, I am dedicated to working across the world of workplace wellbeing to share, define and discuss what we actually mean when we talk about wellbeing and to highlight why physical activity has such an important role to play. In the workshops and presentations I was just starting to deliver, I was talking a lot about the crucial role of personal purpose and goal setting.  I thought it was important to reflect that thinking back on myself.

For many runners and cyclists, the sporting goals we set are centred around hard physical challenges. Whether that’s a BQ marathon time, an ironman or an ultra-marathon – our goals were different but we were sharing as a community (online and in person) in what it meant to chase down and achieve those goals.

Now that community feels a bit lost and is looking around to see how best to channel that need to have a plan, a routine and a structure.  Ultimately it all comes back to purpose.

For some, climbing marathons on back garden steps, walking a marathon around a sofa in a lounge, or running an ultra in the garden is the way they have chosen to recreate a version of their goals. For me, personally, I cannot think of anything I’d like to do less and also know that this would be a one-way road to injury. So no, for those who have wondered, you won’t see me doing that.

But that’s just me. And that’s the point.

If you want to run laps of your 10 by 10 garden for three days then go for it and I’m definitely not going to judge you, in fact I’ll be one of your biggest cheerleaders if that’s how you redefine your own goals.

Personally, I’ve been thinking a lot about why I want to run an ultra and how best to adapt my goals and training with everything cancelled or postponed and no guarantee of when we might be back on the trails. As I talked about in my last blog, this coupled with losing the anchor of work made it especially important for me to define broad goals and objectives.

For me running an ultra is about the people, the view, the fresh air on my face, the journey across a vast part of the country, the eating all the freddos at aid stations (fact). The thought that I could possibly run the complete circumference of the Isle of Wight actually blows my mind – and I know I want to do that one day. But THAT is what I want to do. The number of miles is actually not relevant to me. I’ve already waited (and worked for) over 18 months to try to get to this ultra-start line, and if I have to wait six more months or another six years I don’t really mind – because for me – that is the start line I want to be on and that is what I’m not willing to give up on.

Heading towards 40 felt like a big deal three months ago, it felt really important that I achieve A, B and C before that happened – but it’s all just numbers. And the one thing I’ve figured out for me is that I’m not doing this for the numbers. I did originally say I would run an ultra before I was 40 even if I had to do it in the house, but I now know that’s not the point for me.

I am goal orientated though and not knowing when my ultimate goal might be possible makes it tough for that to be the focus, so instead I’ve set some new short-term goals to keep me motivated and to keep my spreadsheet brain alive. I’ve taken on a six-week power building plan on the indoor turbo trainer – this is a structured plan delivered by Zwift, that I can tick off each session and (hopefully) test my improvements at the end. This works for me – it has structure, and an outcome I can measure. (I’m a strategic project manager, I’m all about the SMART objectives and for anyone knows me well this will make total sense). I’ll continue to turn to virtual pub quizzes and sewing projects to plug that charity gap – these two things combined are my hallway marathon.

As this goes on, and as we wait to find out if the hope we have for September rescheduled races is overly-optimistic, it will be important to all of us that we maintain a relevant sense of purpose as it’s vital to our wellbeing. We may also need to constantly redefine what that looks like.

So, if you are tempted to run a marathon in your flat or simply feel overwhelmed by that 13^th live Instagram workout of the day – ask yourself what your short-term and long-term goal is, find your own purpose and go with it. Be inspired and uplifted by those around you, cheer for them and congratulate them but remember to do you and to focus on what serves you. Do what brings you joy and remember to be kind to those who might be doing things differently to you.

Anna x