Running with terminal cancer

From my experiences I have realised that I, and therefore most people, can do pretty much anything. But we have to want it enough.

I have a pretty scary race coming up in 11 days. It’s bigger than any I have completed BC (before cancer) or AD (after diagnosis). I will talk more about the race next week but just believe me when I say it’s very, very cold, very, very long and very, very hard. Some years no one actually manages to finish!

So I want this race bad, but I can’t just want it, I have to train for it physically, mentally and get to know all my kit – both how, and when, to use it.

I guess all the races and training days since last year have been effectively preparation for this event. More recently, the training typically involves things like dragging a tyre around (and getting strange looks in suburbia), gym work, walking up and down big hills and challenging myself in unusual ways.

Last week saw my last big session completing 6.5 mile loops from home once every three hours for 24 hours – having been up for 12 hours before I started. That would mean getting home after an hour and 45 minutes, putting up my Arctic tent, trying to sleep for an hour, putting the tent down and then going out again to do it all over again – eight times in total. At the end of 23 hours I had completed a double marathon, just over the distance I have to do every day for nine consecutive days in the big race in the Arctic. Oh... while pulling a sledge.

Next I went to Sweden for a few days (and my 54th birthday) to train in the cold. Although much warmer than the Arctic, it was still below zero.

I hope you can see what goes on just to get to the start line.

And you don’t get a medal or applause for training – just the self satisfaction that you are doing what you can to make things possible.

So if you want something that much you may need to put in the unglamorous effort first.

If you are not prepared to, then perhaps you don’t want it that much? I always tell myself never to blame failure on others if I didn’t sweat for it myself in the first place.

Until next week

We can do pretty much anything if we really want to, but we must be willing to work for it