And so to Paris...

I find myself suddenly signed up for the Paris Marathon on 3rd April 2016. This marathon blog will be different from last years Barcelona blog as Paris will be my second marathon...and with only 10 weeks to go from the occasional 4 miles to 26.2 miles it will be a journey of new discoveries.

I'll be looking at how quickly fitness drops off and can be regained and to what level. For example,

- how much fitness have I retained from last year?

- how quickly did my marathon fitness fall last year - i'd say within 6 weeks there was no way i'd have been able to do it again, and from then on i lost fitness, gained pounds and more than anything didn't feel the indestructableness that i enjoyed feeling when marathon fit.

- little things like breathing better to the extent I didn't have to use a wheeze box or even rely on its presence for psycho sematic reasons,

- like tripping off a curb and not going over on an ankle or putting back out,

- like being able to work flat out at Carols fitcamp without feeling the need to vomit, and

- like being able to jump around without fear of wobbling all over the place.

I want to regain that feeling of strength and overall fitness knowing that my body can cope with what's thrown at it.

I've not enough time to train to try and beat my 4hours14mins, i just want to complete it without injury and enjoy Paris. Some think the risk of Paris and marathon combination too high after last years terrorist bombings and shootings but life can't stop, they can't win and change our way of life - if we live in fear they've won.

There's more to it this year as I'll also be raising funds for the MS Society which I'm passionate about having treated some clients and seen the rapidity at which it can take hold and progress, and the powerlessness of the individual to control it.

A year on I put more time into running than updating my blog but I did finish, unsurprisingly slower than before (4hrs29mins) and with a lot more discomfort, walking and blisters...but with 55000 people at the start we came home in one piece and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful city of Paris. What next...