The end of another year is fast approaching and looking back at this years blog posts I seem to just be writing race report after race report with not much in between. This was never my original plan when I first started the blog nearly 2 years ago, but somehow life just seems to get in the way of sitting down and tapping away on my keyboard. Hopefully 2015 will be the year when I can get things back on track!

This year was one that took a while to get going for me as I trundled through the first few months of the year with an undiagnosed iron deficiency. Thanks to a course of iron tablets from March until quite recently I have flown through the year, smashed the majority of my PB’s and found the love of running again and through that the races I’m aiming to run next year just seem to be getting bigger, further and more exciting. With my racing calender already containing the D33 in March (if I get a place!), the London Marathon in April and the Cateran 55 in May it once again looks like it’s not going to be a year for speed. Well, at least the first half of it anyway!

My mileage for the year is currently sitting at 1237 and considering I never really got going until late March, I have to say I’m pretty pleased with that! Last year I gave the Marcothon a go, but around the 18th Of December I got slammed with the end of term cold and I think that’s where the anemia really began as I just didn’t get going again after that. For those who don’t know, the Marcothon is an annual running event held every December. It began in 2009 when Scottish Ultra Runner Marco Consani challenged himself to run every day in November. His wife Debbie then decided to continue the challenge and run every day through December and posted the challenge on her blog. Before long there was a group of runners also eager to embrace this challenge and power through the cold winter month and every year since then the challenge has grown and grown, this year seeing 2900 registered on Facebook and probably many others outside of social media also taking part.

The rules are as follows-
1-You must run EVERY DAY
2- December only. No other month counts. You can’t run the NYC marathon in July, because the weather’s nicer
3-Three miles (5km) or 25 minutes – whichever comes first – is the minimum
4-Yes, it includes Christmas day
5- If you take a day off, you’re out. Sorry. No playing catch-up
6-It’s a personal challenge. If you think you’re cheating, you probably are
7-If you don’t normally run on a treadmill, don’t start. See point above
8-No cycling, rowing, dog-walking, climbing the stairs in your house (yes, we were asked that) permitted
9- You can run at 5m/m or jog at 15m/m – the pace is not important
10-Have fun and share your experiences with other Marcothoners

So, here we go. I have a few days which I already know are going to be slightly more difficult with various social events, travelling everywhere to see family, eating too much… the usual festive priorities and I fear there may have to be a few more early rises this month and possibly even a few tipsy plods, but it’s all part of the fun!

I’d love to hear how anyone else doing this is getting on. If I manage it beyond the 18th of December it’ll be the most back to back runs I’ve ever done, and as I’m wanting to keep up my long weekend runs as well it’ll be interesting to see how I feel come the end of the month. Will it make me stronger? Will I start to resent running? The moment I have any negative thoughts about it I’ll probably stop as I don’t want to see it as a chore.

Good luck to everyone giving it a go. Here’s to a month of festive, enjoyable runs and hopefully more blog posts from yours truly. I’ll try not to mump and moan my way through them!