So, the London Marathon is postponed. As are lots of other races, and I’m sure I’m feeling similar emotions to many folks who were looking forward to racing.

To be honest, today I’m actually feeling some sense of relief. I’ve been waking up at 2am and checking the feeds to see if other races were being cancelled. And each time another major city announced, it made me feel more and more certain this news was coming.

So I’m feeling stoic. The greater certainty is better than not knowing whether to push on with the training and fundraising or not.

There are more important and, frankly frightening, things going on in the world right now. It’s a luxurious position to be in to even be able to have the time in our weekly schedules to be able to take on these running challenges. And right now, the risks involved in these events just don’t weigh up against the benefits.

I’ve been weighing up whether to keep training and do a “virtual” run like Jon B is going to do, or whether to pause and aim for October instead.

I’ve decided on the latter. I started running in August/September last year, and it’s been quite a shift to where I am now. I feel fitter and stronger than I think I ever have. So by October I’ll be even stronger and feel even more ready for the marathon. I know that I could do it now, because of how I felt after my recent 30km run.

But why am I running? Would continuing and running the distance anyway be a good ending to this challenge? I don’t think so - it feels like a bit of an anticlimax, especially because I’ve been raising funds for charity around my “couch to marathon” story and how it relates to our neurodiverse family.

My wife Emily said something a few weeks ago that stuck with me and has helped me to have a stoic attitude to all of this.

“The goal isn’t to run the marathon, it’s to become the kind of person who runs marathons”.

I’ve found that really helpful, so I’m going to continue running long, but shorter-than-marathon distances through the summer and then aim for London in October.

This evening, to mark the end of my marathon training programme (thank you Run With Hal) I went out to set a benchmark.

10k, round the park, as fast as I could manage. That’s 3 minutes off my personal best!

A good way to start the next phase.

Thanks for following along everyone and I hope you’re adapting too!

Not exactly smashing it on speed but the point continues to be getting the distance in each week.

So today I phoned my parents to help them think about how to isolate themselves for the coming viral onslaught. It looks bleak - Germany is predicting 70% of the population getting sick, and around a 2% mortality rate. If you have older folks in your life, time to phone them and get them to understand what’s about to happen in my opinion.

I’m hoping that even with all that going on we’ll all still be able to get outside to run, so to lift the spirits I bought myself a nice new Fractel cap in pink, navy and polkadot. As you do.

Stay strong folks.

I gave it a couple of days rest after that long weekend run, but even so my legs were a little sluggish!

Phew! That was my biggest effort yet. My training plan has three of these 30k-ers, so that’s number one done! It was a strange feeling going past the half marathon point and realising that was now the two thirds point and not near the end.

We’re staying in London while Emily does some university work, so I took advantage of that and ran around the Royal Parks. The pedestrians were definitely out in force today, but no bumps or anything to report. Well, except I did get a bit grumpy when one of those massive bubbles that they blow on the south bank burst all over my face! Ha!

I was slightly faster than the plan. I was aiming for 6.12, but it said to try for the last third being faster than the first two. I tried that but there were too many people around to get into a rhythm. I think I managed to be slightly faster in the finish though.

I’m feeling really pleased that this worked out, my knee continues to be okay, and I’m writing this from Wagamama where I’m now devouring ramen and squid to celebrate.

Got to celebrate every little win along the way, right?!

I’ve been back to back with video calls so had to make a call - lunch or run? Last night I skipped my first run - the tube was broken and it was tipping it down anyway, so track wasn’t the best idea. Late, soaked and far from home sounded like a bad idea. So run it was, and no lunch :/

Anyway, stuck to the plan and challenged myself with a bunch of uphill running. I can feel my legs getting stronger and I’m learning it helps to lift up the knees!

Tomorrow, the longest run yet looms...

A bit of a mega day today with a couple of positive presentations, some great results on an important experiment and a new team member joining. So I kind of ran out of time to get home and also run.

So, luckily I had some kit so I changed, left all my stuff there and ran home.

Not the most fascinating of routes but good to know it’s possible!