Last month I shared an update on my journey towards the London Marathon.

The gallery of photographs that I included showcased some of the surprises and scenic spots I’ve come across during my training sessions. Living in an area with plenty trails through open spaces means I quite know what I’m going to discover.

It’s interesting to realise how these runs have changed my perception of our town. When Pete and I moved here around six years ago, the house prices were reasonable but it seemed rather mundane. There still isn’t much here nowadays; just a town square that consists of about four shops, and nowhere to find food if you’re hungry after 21:00 and have an empty fridge.

What this place does have though is a lot of public footpaths. Signing up to take part in the London Marathon for SpecialEffect next April and completing regular training has allowed me to run some of these trails and see where they go. You have to be cautious when navigating to avoid trespassing on private property, and I make sure Pete is able to track me through my watch so I don’t get lost.

During these runs, I’ve stumbled across several sights which will stay in my memory for a while. An early morning session revealed a deer in a meadow which was too fast to capture on camera. There was a large pond in a country park that I didn’t know existed. The ducks who live in the local reservoir were quite disappointed when they found out I hadn’t brought snacks with me, and night at a nearby jazz club was the result of looking at online maps to plan my next route.

These experiences have given me a newfound appreciation for our quiet town. Though it might be considered to be in ‘the middle of nowhere’ by of many of my work colleagues, it’s actually quite beautiful and I’m beginning to love it here. Being able to head out from home and find myself in a field, forest, nature reserve or by the seafront within ten minutes has made my running journey more interesting. It’s natural backdrops like these which make outdoor sessions more fun than being on a treadmill.

But with colder weather on the horizon, the problems of mud and slipperiness are starting to affect the footpaths. There’s more risk that comes with running on them now so I’ve reluctantly been sticking to pavements during the recent rainy days to prevent sprained ankles and grazed knees. It might be safer this way but it doesn’t make for motivating sessions. Counting passing cars while next to a main road doesn’t keep your mind as occupied in the same way that watching the birds in the trees does.

There’s also the issue of getting wet. The main road through the town has a habit of collecting massive puddles on each side, making it almost impossible to avoid getting splashed by vehicles because it’s so narrow. Running after being soaked by dirty water and squelching in soggy socks isn’t much fun, let me tell you. This pushes me to stick to the backstreets when it has been raining, where I often find myself going around in circles because they don’t really lead anywhere.

My enthusiasm dips during sessions like these. Despite my watch showing that I’m clocking up the distance, mentally, it feels like I’m getting nowhere fast and it’s easier to become frustrated with my progress. I much prefer having a destination in mind and trying to find a path towards it, even if I end up somewhere different by the time I’ve covered the necessary distance. It’s still more interesting than being on the treadmill though, although I know I’m going to be thankful for the machine in the winter.

I’ve managed to stick to the training plan so far with the addition of a few extra rest days, but I’m going to have to shake things up in the coming weeks. My last long-run of 17-miles was always going difficult but it was more exhausting than it should have been, with fatigue setting in early at around eight miles. My watch has been constantly complaining about a low body battery since the beginning of the month because I’ve been pushing myself too hard, and my sleep quality is poor because I’m always overtired.

Online advice suggests exactly what you’d expect: eating healthily, making sure you’re drinking enough water, sticking to a routine and going to sleep on time. It all makes sense but these tips just don’t seem to be working for me. I feel tired in the evening and so head upstairs, but then spend an hour tossing and turning before finally drifting off. I wake up in the morning with my watch even more annoyed at me because my body battery is starting off even lower than it was the day before.

I’ve therefore made the tough decision to switch out the short-runs for walks this week and keep them to under 45-minutes. I’ve also started drinking a herbal sleep tea blend several times each day to see if it helps. Pete and I are going to a LAN party weekend with friends soon, where we’re planning on not doing much other than playing video and board games through to Sunday. Hopefully the downtime and lots of sitting will get my body battery back to where it should be.

The next long-run on the training plan is 23-miles. However, I’m conscious that this is the biggest increase in distance since I started running properly in August. It feels like it’s going to be a good idea to scale it down and aim for smaller increments for a while, so I’m reducing this to 19-miles and will build it up more gradually. There are still five months to go before the London Marathon on Sunday, 21 April 2024 so I’ve got time to focus on growing my stamina steadily and maintaining it.

I’ll keep sharing updates on Instagram and our JustGiving page, including more photographs of random sights seen while out on my runs. It isn’t just one marathon I’m taking part in next year though – as part of our Pixels to Pavements event, Pete and I will also be part of the annual GameBlast streaming marathon on Saturday, 24 February 2024. All donations received go straight to SpecialEffect, to help the charity continue its wonderful work to support people with physical disabilities to benefit from gaming and technology.

Check out Monday’s post for the latest update on our GameBlast24 progress and send us your suggestions for the games you’d like to see on our marathon stream schedule. If you have any tips about long-distance running, combating fatigue or experiences with sleep tea too, I’d love to hear them!