Rachel is one of two guest bloggers who will be writing for 42.2 for the 2016 marathon training season. She will be writing monthly blogs, updating us on the ups and downs of her journey from 0 to 42.2.

By Rachel Crooks

Since I started the marathon training program I haven’t had too much doubt in my mind that I can run a marathon. The distance seemed like an abstract concept until this last weekend when I went on a 45-kilometre bike ride. All of a sudden, abstraction became reality. Gulp! A thought began sneaking into my mind: what if it’s just too much?

Despite my confidence that my body will be able to go the distance, my long runs have started to feel very long and my brain and body feel very out of sync. This feeling often sends my mind spiraling into a barrage of negative thoughts such as:

• If I’m having problems at this point in my training, how will I make it through the rest of it?
• How will I balance increased training commitments with everything else I have to do?
• I’ve got small aches and pains now – how bad will it get by the time I run a marathon?!
• I hear Victoria’s course is hilly – there’s no way I can do that!!

Despite having heard it many times before, I’m beginning to appreciate how much mental preparation goes into marathon training. And while this feels very unique to me, I recognize these are experiences everyone has at one point or another. This makes me grateful for the resources in the course relating to the psychology of running a marathon and about balancing life and training.

After a bit of a slump, I’m finding sunnier days by refocusing on why I enjoy running in the first place – taking time for myself to enjoy the outdoors, finding new routes to explore, and using it as a mental time-out from the other stressors in my life. One foot in front of the other…