Training for the Marathon is tough - as winter arrives, it’s an even bigger challenge. “If it's dark, miserable and raining, and I know I need to do a training run, getting out there is hard,” says Dr Sarah Holmes, Chief Medical Officer, who’ll be pulling on a Marie Curie top at the TCS London Marathon. “This is what works to keep my motivation high.”
Give yourself a pep talk
“My top tip to get going is to give yourself a good talking to! I say ‘No, I’m going to do this – even though I’m going by myself’.”
Focus on how you’ll feel later
“Having run for a while, I also know that running doesn’t always feel good, but you always feel good afterwards. It helps to think about how you’re going to be feeling at the end, rather than how you’re going to feel while you’re doing it.”
Set a plan you can stick to
“If I’ve set a plan, I’m sticking to that plan. I’m using the Coopah app to help me map out my runs and schedule rest days. It notifies me if I need to do a run. I’ve got a little streak where I have hit my goals and I don’t want to break the streak.”
Keep a photo diary and try naming your runs
“I have a rule about running; if I haven’t taken a photo, it hasn’t happened. Every run I go on, I make sure I stop and take a photo of the scenery or even myself. It’s a record that I’ve done this run.”
"Also, normally, when I log into Strava it’ll say, ‘Morning Run’ or Evening Run’. I will create a name for it. I did a run at Christmas last year and it was ‘The Quagmire Run’ because it was just so muddy. If I’m running with friends, the name might be something we’ve said or talked about whilst we’re running.”
Find motivation in music and green spaces
“I go for Greatest Day by Take That. The words are ‘This could be the greatest day of your life’. For me it’s that uplifting positivity, and the tune, rather than the beat. I also like running without any music – focusing on the sounds of nature around me, the birds singing!”
Keep special people in mind
“There's a particular patient that I've been thinking of recently. We looked after a wonderful lady who volunteered for Marie Curie and raised over £100,000 for us. She started fundraising for us because we’d cared for her mother. Now her daughter is working for us too.
“Then, when she became ill herself, she asked to see us. We cared for her, and she died in Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford. It was the anniversary of her dying a few weeks ago. Suddenly, I thought ‘I would love to run thinking of her’. There are so many people we’ve cared for that I carry on my shoulders, but I’ll be thinking of her in particular.”
And always remember your ‘why’
“Doing the marathon is a personal, physical challenge. But it’s also a challenge in the ‘why’, your reasons for doing it. That keeps you going when you’re running, in the same way that it does with healthcare. You are doing it for the ‘why’."
If you have a ballot place in the TCS London Marathon, there’s still time to join Sarah in Team Marie Curie. Sign up here and help bring end of life care to more people.
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