The Road to April: Remember your ‘Why’

Somewhere between now and next April, you're going to have a bad training run (or realistically, probably more than one!) Legs heavy, motivation nowhere, weather doing you no favours. In that moment, the thing that gets you out the door again isn't a pace chart or a heart rate zone. It's your reason.
So before we get into any of the science, the strength work, or the fuelling strategy, I want to start here, because it's the part that actually carries you the furthest.
Reasons come in every shape
Some of you are running because you, or someone you love, has been affected by a neurological condition, and this is your way of doing something with that. Some of you are running because a place opened up and you said yes before you'd properly thought it through. Some of you have run marathons before and know exactly what you're in for. Others have never run further than for a bus and are secretly wondering whether you've made a terrible mistake.
All of those reasons are valid, and over the next several months I'll be sharing training content that works whichever category you fall into, because the physiology of getting round 26.2 miles doesn't actually care why you signed up. What changes is how you carry the days when it's hard, and that's worth thinking about early.
A word from someone who's been round a few times
I've run this race twice myself, along with Paris and Loch Ness Marathons, and I spent two years organising the Loch Ness Marathon from the other side of the barrier. I also coach and support people doing endurance challenges including marathons. What that combination has taught me, more than any single training plan, is that the runners who finish strong aren't always the fittest on paper. They're the ones who trained consistently, respected recovery as much as effort, and had a reason solid enough to survive a wet Tuesday in February.
That's really what this series is for. Practical, evidence-based training content, built for a group with very different starting points and very different reasons, all heading to the same start line.
What's coming
​Over the coming months I'll cover, in roughly this order:

• Why slow running is the foundation of a strong marathon, not a compromise
• The strength work that actually pays off late in the race, and what the evidence really shows
• Fuelling and hydration that works on ordinary food, not gimmicks
• A few honest lessons from my own races and from organising one
• How to taper properly and run your own race on the day, not someone else's

If you're newer to distance running, there's also a short beginner's companion piece posted before this one, covering the basics of kit, your first few weeks, and what "easy" is actually supposed to feel like. No question is too basic. Every single person on this team started exactly where you are now.
Whatever brought you to this start line, I'm glad you're here. Let's get you to the next one properly prepared.