It takes about 16 weeks of training and about 500 miles to train well for a marathon. Depending on your goals, this could be a lot more or slightly less but this is an average of what it takes to run a marathon and run it well and even, dare I say it, enjoy it.

This weekend I am tackling my third marathon in Dublin, Ireland. My training for this one has been less than perfect with lots of life getting in the way of the perfectly written training plan but it was a great reminder to me that the plan is just that – it’s a written down target of things that you want to make happen.

I believe that the chances of them happening at all are greatly increased just based on the fact that they are written down in the first place. To put it another way, by not writing down my goals nearly guarantees me that I will not achieve them. A written plan makes you more committed. It’s not a cast iron commitment by any means, it just raises the likelihood of you actually doing them.

Here’s to running the 26.2 miles and enjoying it.

If you happen to be running Dublin this weekend, leave a comment below.

Yours in health and happiness,

JP