If I’d been writing this a month ago I think you’d have got a different post entirely. One that was full of ‘oh woe is me’ and a fair bit of negativity. The fear had crept in for the first time, not of the marathon distance itself but the fear that my knees, or one of them in particular, are not strong enough to withstand an 18 week training block. I have a good knee and a bad knee and when the good knee starts acting up, it gets in my head and plants a big old seed of doubt for good measure.  

But I’m working on building it up and looking after it. I’ve started swimming most mornings before work and have come to accept, begrudgingly, that strength and conditioning, stretching and maybe the yoga that a lot of friends have encouraged me to do all need to become an integral part of the training, along with the running. 

But last week there was no swimming, even though a pool would’ve been perfect as the temperatures hit 35. I was in Madrid with work, a city I’d never been to before but one which I can confirm is very runnable! So much so that my disciplined approach to 2-3 runs a week went right out the window and I ran every morning Monday-Friday including a 10k farewell tourist run of all the places I’d liked during the trip. 

Whenever I’m going to new places, I scope out a map before I leave to see what routes are feasible from where I’m staying with the spare time that I have. I don’t make too many plans but I have a rough idea of where to head towards and then I take it from there. After I’ve run streets once, I’m pretty good at committing them to memory and don’t need a phone to navigate unless I start building on the routes.  For me, running is the best way to explore new places, whether it’s cities or hills or trails and I was determined to use the mornings to see as much of Madrid as I could. Without sounding pessimistic, you never know if you’ll run these places again, so I got a bit greedy but going out every morning. Other than the aching knee as I plodded round Lochore Meadows parkrun on Saturday, Je Ne Regrette Nien. 

As I walked through the streets on Sunday, there was an incredible atmosphere and the streets were packed as it was a holiday weekend. At midnight, families were still out enjoying themselves but come 7am as I headed out along the same route, I pretty much had the streets, the Royal Palace and the gardens all to myself!  That said, there was a decent sized queue outside a pizza shop across from my hotel and I resisted the temptation to join them to carb load!  As much as I like running in a group or racing in a pack, there is something special about a run in solitude…I just didn’t expect it to happen in one of Europe’s busiest capital cities. On two of the days, I ran in El Retiro which is just a stunning park. I’m convinced you could run in there for months and never take the same route twice. I tried to explore as best I could in the time that I had but there’s probably cool wee trails and landmarks that I missed. On one of the runs, I was greeted with a COME ON SCOTLAND as a fellow runner, and fellow Scot judging by the accent, spotted my Scotland football top as he ran past. The smile I had got bigger and I found a wee spring in my step for the run back to my digs. If you ever visit Madrid, El Retiro is a must see (and Casa Julio is a must go to for tapas – take my word for it).

I smiled during every run in the city. I remembered why I enjoy running so much, even when the knee tries to remind me it probably won’t be a long term love affair. But the run that made me smile the most was actually the shortest of the week; laps of the famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium. I jumped on the metro for the 2.5 mile trip north as I didn’t have as much time that morning as the others. As football fans on here will probably know, the stadium is currently undergoing a major refurbishment so I knew before I set off that I’d be turning up to a building site. Even still, I thought it would be cool to say I’d ran round the outside of it. The construction, plus all the roads and the busy pavements around it made it a bit stop start, but it was good fun and I managed a wee glimpse inside the stadium through a gate. And as I uploaded my run to Strava on the tube back (great signal underground) I burst out laughing as it proclaimed me the new LOCAL LEGEND of the Santiago Bernabeu…Anti-clockwise (respect to my clockwise counterpart!). Of all the greats that have graced that stage, it took just four laps and 20 minutes for wee Chicken Legs to earn legendary status!

So Madrid has definitely been good for the mojo and that’s pretty decent timing as the training block starts a week on Sunday! I’ll post the plan up once it’s finalised, if anything it might keep me honest. Last night I managed to get booked in for a sports massage and a bit work on the knee. I thought my quad was fine but quickly discovered last night that it was one big knot. There was not much smiling for 90 minutes last night, although I do have a habit of bursting out laughing when the pain really kicks in (I’m a strange wee guy) but I’m feeling good today.

The posts on here will become more frequent as the training kicks off (lucky you!)..but so will the sponsorship promos (you’ve been given fair warning here). The first 30 sponsors, whatever the amount, will metaphorically ‘join me on the run’ and be assigned a part of the route.

A huge thanks to everyone who has sponsored so far (my early pace setters!) I really appreciate it. A special shout out to Innes and the team at Elgin Motor Works garage in Rosyth who made a really generous donation and a big contribution towards my target. The team have done a great job at keeping my old car on the road these last few years and naturally, they are sponsoring the finish line. Hopefully with a bit maintenance, regular MOTs and decent fueling, this auld boy can keep himself on the road for the next 20 weeks!