As the saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

I don’t know how many people would consider themselves “tough” but when you see the “the wall” heading towards you during a race, how do you climb over, go round or smash straight through it?

Sometimes it only takes a stern word with yourself or when running with someone, an encouraging message to help to ease the pain and make you continue.

It can take a goal that you have been striving for as the motivation to forget the distance you have yet to run.

But if you are in a bad place, really struggling as I almost certainly will on the London2Brighton challenge or as nearly everyone does in the many marathons to be run this year, these tricks might not be enough to overcome the magnitude of sores and doubts.

When I crossed the line in my first marathon, the London Marathon in 2010, I broke down in tears.

Partly I was happy, no, ecstatic to have even made it round.

But mainly it was because the reason I had kept running when it felt like I couldn’t was the memory of my grandma who had died a couple of months previously.

On my running vest, I had written her name and any time I thought that I was struggling, I looked down and thought about how proud she would be of me if I finished.

I thought about my memories of her and the happy times and just put one foot in front of the other.

Whatever you need to get you through hold onto it, use it and treasure it.

The path to overcoming challenges is an individual as the journey that got you to the start line and will get you over the finish line.

Day 25

Total words: 8,248
Total miles: 137.9 (221.9k)

#writeandrun31