Eight weeks to go. The training is progressing though sometimes it feels like really hard work. I've been going through these gates a lot recently. But are they the gates of heaven or hell? Going one way leads through into the deer park. Past the church and the obelisk. It can lead to a wonderful world of antlered deer stags, ice houses, world heritage, buzzards, the foothills of the dales, and a cafe with scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Heaven on earth. But it also leads to a very long mile uphill - the 'Studley Mile', up to it's very own Barkley gate at the top which I have to touch to complete a strength sapping speed interval. Eight minutes of hell doing each hill effort. Only to have to turn around and repeat, again and again. Or onwards through those gates at the top to do another 23 miles to complete a back-to-back-marathon-long-slow-trails-weekend. The thought of doing it is daunting. Going the other way through the gate is usually good. It'...
Eight weeks to go. The training is progressing though sometimes it feels like really hard work.
I've been going through these gates a lot recently. But are they the gates of heaven or hell?
Going one way leads through into the deer park. Past the church and the obelisk. It can lead to a wonderful world of antlered deer stags, ice houses, world heritage, buzzards, the foothills of the dales, and a cafe with scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Heaven on earth.
Or onwards through those gates at the top to do another 23 miles to complete a back-to-back-marathon-long-slow-trails-weekend. The thought of doing it is daunting.
But not that close.
Going the other way through the gate is usually good. It's an easy run home, to refuel, rest and recover, in two gentle downhill miles. If you look closely you can see the roads are aligned with the cathedral in Ripon. Very heavenly. And the downhill to get to the gate is lovely.
But sometimes it feels like hell, like the other day after doing parkrun, passing through the gate but needing to do another 17 miles of endurance running with a five km burst at the end on my training plan before rolling up at home completely knackered.
One gate. Two possibilities to how I feel.
But what I've realised is that it's my choice how I feel going through it. Heaven or hell? It's all in the mind what we make it.
It's good training for the times when I know I'll be struggling doing the actual LEJOG. It's in my gift to switch any negative hellish thoughts and inject a different feeling when I see a metaphorical gate and go running through it.
Gate-spotting.
Choose heaven.
(Cue Iggy) Dum dum dum. Dum dum di dum
Choose to slow down. Choose to look up. Choose to enjoy it. Choose to keep going onwards and northwards. Choose to take one step at a time. Choose to get closer to my goal.
(For Ady 😜)
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