You watched the London Marathon on Sunday, have seen all the photos across social media, perhaps even know someone who ran and now feel inspired to do it yourself. 

You couldn’t do it, could you? It’s 26.2 miles and you can barely run the length of yourself!

I thought that too until I ran it and it changed my life. If I can do it, you can too!

If you’re thinking of running the London Marathon, here are my top 3 tips on what to do next.

1. Enter

   Click on this link and enter the ballot. Do it! It’s likely to be the scariest thing you do but it’s also likely to be the most amazing thing you ever do. There’s a saying ‘I challenge you to run a marathon and it NOT change your life’. It’s true! You will learn more about yourself than possibly anything you’ve ever done before. You are about to discover that you’re capable of doing something you probably didn’t think was even possible for you.

   There’s no need to look at training plans or rush out and book a hotel just yet. It is worth starting to get your body moving so that you can be ready if you get accepted.

2. Start Running

   Get your shoes on and start running. Now. There’s a slim chance of getting a place in the ballot as around 450,000 people will likely be applying for around 30,000 places. Somebody’s got to get in and it could be you so best to start now.

   You can either do Couch to 5k or just go running yourself and start by making it feel easy. It can be a great way to escape the stress of everyday life and get fit at the same time! Go run with some friends and you’ll begin to look forward to the run as well as the catch up!

3. Sign Up For Parkrun

   This is the perfect way to train for a marathon! If you’ve never been to parkrun, sign up here, get your barcode, find an event near you and go along every Saturday. It’s a great way to get used to running with other people, you’ll make new friends and look forward to going every week. You can even walk to begin to start with then build up to running.

   Parkrun is a great way to make a commitment to exercise at the same time every week and will stand you in good stead if you do get in and need to start training. Even if you don’t get in, parkrun will help you improve your running and you can always look around for another event to do.

   Of course, if you do get in and start to wonder how you’re going to train for it, I can help with my dedicated Online Running Coaching.