10 Top Marathon Motivation Tips

10 Top Marathon Motivation Tips

With a week until the London marathon, there’s no more training to be done. It’s taper time. Whilst the body rests, now is the time to get your mind into gear and prepare for the challenge ahead.

If you are starting to worry, feel fear or contemplate doubts, that is totally normal, you are not alone. I am doing the same. If it was easy everyone would be doing it! If you knew you could do it, it wouldn’t be a challenge. What happens in the mind during those 26.2 miles cannot be predicted or controlled, but it can be managed and we can prepare for it.

A Wild Camping Adventure

A Wild Camping Adventure

Scotland has the right to roam act which means it’s legal to wild camp any where. After Lorna and I finish our run on Ben Nevis, we drive towards Mallaig on the West Coast after a recommendation from a friend as a spectacular place. We don’t know exactly what we’re looking for, but have an idea in mind and our eyes peeled. We pass a find a small car park with a sign “Path to Beach” pointing to a cliff top. We park up and unload the car. We’ve found our spot.

Mountain Running in Scotland

Mountain Running in Scotland

“Get the girls some tea” the mountain rescue team stammer, as we walk into the CIC hut half way up Ben Nevis. After a week in Scotland on my own, Lorna North, Founder and writer at Queen of the Mile, boarded the Caledonian Sleeper Train from Euston to Fort William to join me for three days of unadulterated adventure in Scotland.

This was day two and we’d decided to go for a run up Ben Nevis. At 1344m The Ben, as it’s known by locals and climbers, is the highest mountain in the UK. In March, much of it is still covered in snow, beckoning climbers and skiers to adventure in it’s shadows and and dance in it’s light. We were here to run and feel the freedom of nature all around us.

Scotland: Freedom

Scotland: Freedom

If you’ve been following my social media feeds over the last week you may have noticed me falling head over heels in love with Scotland. 

No matter where I travel in the world, I always come back to the Scottish Highlands. It captured a corner of my heart many years ago and this trip to Scotland has only made that corner bigger.

Why I Train Outside

Why I Train Outside

Ever since I started getting into fitness as a graduate living and working in London, I’ve trained outside. My first fitness love was British Military Fitness. I’d go to one of London’s parks and train before or after work. In the mud, wind, rain, snow and sometimes sunshine.

I loved the camaraderie of training with other people. Doing burpees, piggy backs, sprints and whatever other creative exercises the instructors would come up with. It was super tough training but also fun and felt as though every session taught me how to dig a little bit deeper.

Make the choice. Choose your path

Make the choice. Choose your path

“What’s your next big adventure?” Is a question I’m commonly asked.  Sometimes I provide an explanation that may help to maintain the image I portray on social media. Sometimes I tell the truth. “I’m staying put,“ was my response to a friend recently. “Sorry, where’s that?” my friend replied.

When I provided more detail to my answer, my friend replied with “but that’s not what you’re supposed to say. You’re supposed to be off doing all these amazing things that the rest of us can’t do. If you are staying here getting on with life, that makes you normal too.”

Ride and River Adventure in Bolivia

Ride and River Adventure in Bolivia

Upon arriving in Bolivia, I embarked on an incredible adventure through the Bolivian jungle with Gravity Assisted Mountain Bike Tours and Andean Epics. They promised to deliver an off the beaten track experience to kick off my #NextStopLatinAmerica adventure with Lan and Tam Airlines.