Leaning Into the Long Run

I started this year the same way I start most good things: by taking on a challenge big enough to wake me up.

The charity boxing match in January did exactly that. The idea of stepping into a ring with someone, under lights, with a crowd, was the kind of motivation that forces you to train with intent. It worked. I got the fight done. And, like most intense short-term challenges, I slipped back into old habits quicker than I wanted.

But since then, things have shifted.
Weekly gym sessions have stuck.
The odd run has crept back in.
Not perfect, but consistent, and that consistency opened the door to something bigger. It's the same idea I explored in Perfection Is Unattainable — sometimes good enough is exactly what you need.

The marathon idea that kept returning

Running a marathon has been on my list for years. The kind of “one day” goal that quietly lingers in the background. This year, it finally felt like time to stop parking it.

A group of us had planned to do the Belfast Marathon, being from Belfast, it just made sense. But by the time we went to sign up, it was booked out.

In the past, that might've been the end of it.
This time, it wasn't.

We all pivoted.

Someone suggested Edinburgh.
Someone else checked dates.
The rest of us went, "Why not?"

Within 10 minutes, we were signed up for a race in a completely different city.

It wasn't the original plan, but it was the right move.

"Always plan to change your plan"

My mum used to say that to me, and it’s funny how often it shows up in my life now.

Being stuck on one rigid path can be limiting.
Being open to other outcomes, other solutions, gives you freedom to adapt.

And if there's one theme running through my recent posts, it's this:
adaptability isn't a compromise, it's a skill.
It's the thing that lets you move forward even when the first door closes. I've explored this in Adaptability at Work and The Future Belongs to the Adaptable.

It's how the charity fight happened when the original gym fell through.
It's how I kept posting weekly even when the topics weren't perfect, something I wrote about in Sharing Before You're Ready.
It's how cold dips became a discipline, rain or shine.
And now it's how the Belfast plan became Edinburgh without losing momentum.

Adaptability keeps you moving.
Rigidity keeps you stuck.

What Edinburgh represents

Edinburgh feels like more than just a race now.

It's a weekend away with mates.
A chance to see a new city.
A valid excuse to eat my way through haggis, fish and chips, chowder, and whisky.
Maybe even a hike in the mountains afterwards.

Turning the marathon into an experience, not just an event, made it better than the original plan.

A test and a reset

Training over winter will be the hardest part.
Cold. Dark. Wet.
The kind of weather that makes you question every choice you've ever made. It reminds me of the cold water challenge I wrote about in Sharing Before You're Ready — the discomfort never really goes away, you just get better at facing it.

But that’s exactly why it matters.

Spring and summer runs will feel earned.
Momentum will be built, not borrowed.
Discipline will be strengthened, not assumed.

And honestly, marathon running feels like a mental game more than anything.
If you were being chased by a lion, you'd run 26 miles without thinking.
It's the part where nobody's chasing you that tests your character.

Why I'm doing it

To get fitter.
To get healthier.
To improve my consistency.
To follow through on something I’ve wanted for years.
To see what happens when I show up for myself long enough to reach the finish line.

Edinburgh wasn’t the plan.

But sometimes the things you didn’t plan end up being exactly what you needed.

I'll see you at the start line.
And maybe, just maybe, a little further than that.