Planning and debating long lists is not really my thing outside of work, i only do it because i’m getting paid for it. When it comes to real life decisions i’m pretty much a “Russian roulette” kind of person. That’s how i got into university, how i got the motorcycle, how i got the dog, all in the lines of “….yeah, why not?”. Never regretted one thing, I will always make it happen, except this time maybe when I know it’s gonna bite me in the ass.  So, the latest addition to the list of “poorly thought life decisions” is: sign up to run a half marathon. WHY, SWEET JESUS?

The decision came after I saw the marathon runners right at the finish line on Sunday and they all pretty much looked like very inspiring zombies. This one guy in particular, had fallen a few meters back and was being helped by paramedics to walk to the finish. And he did it! Everyone was clapping and cheering him on, you could tell it was a struggle, but still he did it. And i started crying, for some reason, and felt very inspired by that. To the extent of doing it to myself in a few months’ time to understand what that runner must feel like at the finish line. Except i’m too much of a chicken to go for a full marathon so i chose a half one. I think some reasoning kicked in, but obviously not enough.

I’m currently eating a pizza and researching training plans, getting terrified at PBs (personal bests – already familiar with the lango) and trying to make a plan of action. It’s not one of those decisions that you can just live with and make happen, I will actually have to put in loads of work to make sure i don’t die on that course and make a respectable race time. This week is all about realising what I’ve done to myself and finding some more inspiration to kickstart the training.

Good news is I’ve got 6 months to get ready and handball season is just about over, which gives me plenty of time to get on with running. Got the headphones, the playlists, the watch, the trainers (in that exact order of importance). All i need is some rain proof clothes – i’m 100% certain it will piss down in October, as it usually does in Manchester, so i need a few months to mentally prepare for that as well. I haven’t told my friends about this, i’ll just call them the day after and be like: “oh, how was your weekend? Party much? I had a quiet time, after i RAN A HALF MARATHON!!” Will definitely put that in my CV and make sure to mention it all the time. “Hi, I’m Alex and I did a half marathon, what’s your name?” Vegans do it all the time.

PRAY FOR ME!!

Later edit: i managed to break my hand so training schedule got delayed for 2 months. i’m starting to panic a bit WHY JESUS?

Even later edit: DONE! 2h16m and I didn’t die. It rained though and that sucked balls, but it was amazing. Shitty,  but amazing shitty.