“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.

In 2013, I was an 11 stone Call Centre worker, my mind a mess of charcoal gloom and my body a mass of health issues and I stepped on my road to running.  That road would take me to a brighter future.  Four years later I’m an 9 stone Graduate myth-waffler with a foot or two on the ladder of a Creative Writing and Marketing career.  I went from no exercise since my Secondary School days of hiding from P.E. to having 9 marathons under my belt.  Over the summer various interviewers would ask me where I saw myself in five years and I’d say, ‘I’m already there.  I saw myself with a degree, starting the career I’ve always wanted.’

I have spared a few moments thought to the reason I started running.  My inspiration was sparked by Kilian Jornet’s epic run up Mount Olympus and a desire to follow in his footsteps.  I wanted to one day run the Olympus Marathon combining my love of running and Classical Mythology together in a big peaked cake dusted with icing and the seat of Zeus on top (alas, no glacier cherries here).

If I stick to that 5 year plan idea I have 1 year left in which to achieve this goal.  It is highly unlikely that I’ll run the Olympus Marathon in 2018.  Due to a crop of different health issues (the saga of my well recorded Mystery Illness Book 1 The Slipped Disc and now a joyfully new Mystery Illness Book 2 As Yet Untitled)  It is more likely that I’ll actually get in to the London Marathon by ballot and we all know how hard that is, don’t we? I know, let us not hold our breath.

Instead I’ll set a more realistic goal of my fitness and health.  If finances allow I will hike up the Olympus Marathon for charity in the early autumn of next year.  Plans will be planned.  If you’ve done this thing do please get in touch and let me know your experiences.  In the meantime I’ll be trying to put my foot on the permanent bit of the Marketing ladder and try to make the freelancing side of things more profitable.

Happy Running,

Eleanor

xxx