So this arrived in the post the other day:

It’s my Macmillan training top for Brighton! And it’s GREEN! BRIGHT GREEN!

.. Did I mention that it’s an awesomely bright shade of green!? (Doesn’t half clash with my blog colour scheme ..)

With winter drawing in, the mornings AND evenings getting darker and gloomier, and the temperatures plummeting, my running motivation has been a wee bit intermittent – so I decided that it’s a good time to remind myself exactly why I’m running Brighton. After all, what could be better motivation than that?

Of course, there’s the fact that a marathon is an exciting fitness goal. I’ve raced 5ks, 10ks and a half marathon, and the full marathon seemed like a logical next step. I’ve hiked and cycled long distances, but running further than 13.1 miles has always been a big challenge for me – and an official event was a great way to focus my training.

But I first got the idea of running a marathon when my parents and brother ran Brighton Marathon last year, to raise money for Macmillan. None of them had run a great deal before they signed up, and they went from almost nothing to 26.2 in a little over a year. Having seen how tough the training was, and the mental and physical strength it took to push through training runs in the dark, the cold, and the rain, I was inspired to push myself, too.

The thing is, I was on work placements in France and Spain that year – and large amounts of steak, wine, bread and pintxos, combined with lots of exploring galleries and museums (Paris) and hiking up mountains (the Basque Country) didn’t leave me much opportunity, or motivation, to train. As a result, I had to defer my entry, leaving my parents and brother to run Brighton without me. Being the machines they are, they ticked off their training runs and crossed the finish line with great times. (Easy peasy ..)

Next year, we’ll be at the start line together. We’ll be running to support each other, as well as the fantastic and inspirational work Macmillan are doing, and all those affected by cancer.

And keeping that in mind will push me to get out and run, no matter what.