I am neither a coach nor a psychologist but a normal runner, simply sharing my experiences and views in the best way that I can ahead of the big race in February.

How many times in our lives do some of us feel demotivated due to exhaustion, injuries and other ailments?

We all know that in order to achieve our objectives, we have to be prepared for our dose of pain and discomfort. This may be unpleasant but in the end results leave us with that feel-good factor.

The danger lies when focusing on that pain or discomfort and keeping it always present in our minds.

I recall my first journey leading to the 89k Comrades marathon in South Africa.

I mention this race because like the Malta Marathon in the early stages, the Comrades went right through that core within and brought out questions and answers I never knew existed.

A fresh venture, the road was full of fun, excitement and anticipation and despite my years of running, I compared myself to a beginner who had never ran before.

My training went smoothly for a few weeks, until shortly after Christmas I acquired a very bad virus which left me with prolonged acute muscle pain and led me from one injury to another.

All I could see, however, was that dream of running the distance and nothing was going to stop me.

With less than seven weeks to go, exhaustion was creeping fast on me.

Although present in every situation, my life was in complete chaos, not knowing when I slept or ate, when I worked or juggled with my other chores. Worse still, the closer the race, the more I became aware of what was ahead of me and fear was slightly hitting on me.

But there I was that day at 5.30 a.m. calm and focused, yet full of excitement and raring to go – a novice in a great race and an alien from tiny Malta, mostly unknown in that part of the world.

Hour by hour, and kilometre after another, until I reached the 61k landmark, where I experienced that nasty feeling every runner dreads, of hitting the wall.

Humour got the better of it, however.

I started recalling a funny incident then, which had occurred at the track three weeks earlier, and in crazy fits of laughter I asked for salts.

Ten hours of continuous running and less than 10K to go, I was soiled and dirty and the pain in my legs was becoming unbearable. I had to focus on something pleasant.

Playing mind games, during which I thought of different brands of nice perfumes, kept me going for quite a while.

The last 2k were the longest I’ve ever run, yet the happiest in my entire career. The emotions were deep and profound and something enormous happened within me.

Wow... what a great run that was! One is either going uphill or downhill... in Comrades, no flat course.

Was the effort worth it?

Yes, every ache and pain. The pain is long gone and forgotten yet the memory still lingers on and will for a long time.

Life is but a rollercoaster ride – a parachute jump... taking chances, falling over and getting up again.

M2S record

The record time of 53:47 set by Kevin Zammit in 1997 for the M2S still stands but another record of 454 finishers was established last Sunday.

Seventy-three from the 527 registered applicants did not make the finish line, of these only one or two were at the start line in Mdina.

In the final days to an event one must avoid any mishaps. The last two/three weeks should be used for tapering down the intensity of one’s training and more care should be taken not to fall ill.

By race day, one should feel fresh, healthy and uninjured.

As predicted, there was a record entry for the M2S and some other runners were also refused entry because they tried to apply after the closing date and found that the race was full.

The same predictions are being made for the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon. So, apply now at www.maltamarathon.com and don’t be one of those ‘would-be’ participants.

Happy Christmas to all.