An uphill struggle?

They say that some of the best things in life are worth waiting for, working for - I have joked that the best ingredient to any meal is hunger.

Today I was taking a service at Tavistock Methodist church, it must be said I was really pleased to be there and they seemed pleased that I was there also - always a good sign! The last time I was in Tavistock Sharon and I were running a 13 mile leg of the trip from Land's end to Exeter, raising money for El-Shaddai. The run was an amazing one, across beautiful moor but also largely uphill, we reckon at least 8 miles of it! I remember being 2.17 miles in and wondering if I could carry on. Sharon and I did carry on and finished in just over 2 and a half hours, yes it was gruelling but also one of the most satisfying moments of my life; beautiful scenery and an immense challenge and time spent with Sharon.

Today I drove the same route we ran, from Tavistock and this time alone. Wow it is so much easier by car, the hills seem far less significant, the experience much less extreme. Yet it was those 'extremities' that I think I missed - when we ran there were times when we looked ahead at the impossible hills and ten minutes later we looked back and wondered how we had managed it.

Today is also father's day and I received 2 books on running and one on sport's psychology - 'Bounce' - mentioned in an earlier blog. This week I ran 19 miles and I feel that I am getting somewhere, still not really any faster but I am sure that I am fitter.

I have also started to look at marathon training schedules and realised that this is going to be really hard. I have also started to talk of actually running a marathon and as my training will have to be in the late spring/early summer and I don't like running in the heat, we are seriously considering going to Reykjavik in August 2012 - I said 'we', Sharon is thinking about it too.

Do I have the hunger for this, is this worth working for? I guess I will find out.