With only a few days left before I embark on my 2nd marathon, I am trying to pause to reflect on the journey so far.

Training for a marathon will take you about 16 weeks and you will run over 500 training miles in the process. Your body (especially legs) will change over time, muscles become used to the impact of the movement and you will find yourself with a clearer head and better sleep. These are only a few of the benefits but the ones that I have felt most clearly.

I view it as a gift. To be able to complete this training is a gift. To have a body that can endure the miles and recover for the next run is a gift (note there was a time not so long ago where the most I could ever manage was 5km). To have access to a world of nutritional information at our finger-tips is a gift. There is a lot to be grateful for. The reason I say this is because I am a firm believer in the idea of how you view something has a great impact on the result.

Do you generally view things as obstacles or opportunities? Most of us might say the latter but the reality might be the former. Viewing hard tasks as opportunities to learn and grow certainly does not come naturally to me, I have to make a very deliberate and conscious decision to view something this way.

The lens you choose to look at the world through has a big big impact on your level of enjoyment and fulfilment in your life.

I will be resting up for the next few days, with no running whatsoever, to be fresh and energised come Sunday for the marathon. While I do hope to better my time from last year, my primary goal is to raise funds and awareness for a Dublin children’s hospital, to which I owe a great debt of service. You can read about mine and Ben’s story here.

When the legs give up, the mind takes over. Mind over marathon. Bring it on!