You don't need to light a fire, but manage those doubts

We are now at the point of the marathon preparation where things start to taper off and the training changes accordingly.

The quantity is beginning to lessen, which is a welcome for people who have been putting the hours in.

The thing is, you're still out running, and this is where, with more time to think about the race, doubts can start to creep in.

The anxiety comes to the fore when you realise it is only two weeks away. The element of doubt creeps in with that voice inside your head.

The mind now starts to go, 'shit, have I done enough work?’ and this can be tricky to manage.

It was no different for me when I competed in the 400 metres.

What I used to do back then seemed bizarre to some people, but it worked for me.

I would write down all the negative thoughts and ideas that swirled through my head leading up to a race. It could be anything from ‘I haven’t done the right training’ to ‘I’m going to blow up before the finish line’.

Before I travelled to my race, I would go into the garden and burn the piece of paper.

I appreciate this can sound a little extreme, but if you simply ignore the negativity, it will only fester and spin around in your head.

As well as getting rid of the negative thoughts, I wrote down the sessions that went well, the runs I felt good in.

It was a confidence boost and the other advantage to this type of journaling was that when I saw my concerns in black and white, it became much easier to dismiss some of them out of hand as simply irrational.

It’s a practice I still use and it might prove useful for some people ahead of the marathon. You don’t need to necessarily burn the piece of paper afterwards, simply ripping up and binning them will do, but journaling your concerns, along with reinforcing what you