I’ve been thinking about running another marathon for awhile. I had a great experience at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon, but afterwards my body was tired, and I needed to take a lot of time off from running, to deal with injuries. Then, I made Aliyah and got a boyfriend. I still wanted to (and did!) run, but my priority was on adjusting to life in Israel and spending quality time with Lior. Training for a marathon requires a LOT of time, including early morning runs. I simply did not want to put in the work required to run a marathon, so I put the idea on the back burner for awhile.
When Lior asked me to come to London with him, he was upfront about the fact that it would be a “3-4 month” trip. This quickly turned into four months. I don’t have a UK work visa, and the thought of hustling for freelance work based in the US or Israel just isn’t appealing. At this stage in my life, I do not want to work for myself. I like the (relative) stability and structure of an office environment. So Lior and I decided to move forward with our London stay, knowing that I won’t be working.
While I love waking up whenever I want, I know I will need some kind of structure for these 4 months. Conveniently, that’s approximately how long it takes to train for a marathon…and since it will be autumn/winter in London, the moderate to cold temperatures mean that I can schedule runs for the middle of the day, when Lior is working. It’s perfect!
I set about looking for a marathon in late January/early February, so I would have a solid 16-20 week block of training time. In the end, I settled on a marathon in the Canary Islands, a short and inexpensive flight from London. The temperatures would be warm, which could be a problem, but after reading several race reviews, I was pleased with my choice.
And then I was accepted into the 2020 Tokyo Marathon.
I entered the ballot in August on a whim, since 1) it’s free and 2) the acceptance rate is around 8%. I wanted to be accepted, but I was realistic about my chances. Plus, this meant that my training would get pushed back and I would complete the final 3+ weeks once I was back in Israel…
One of the (many) times I expressed my trepidation about moving to London, Lior had me make a pros and cons list. It helped calm me down, so I did the same for Tokyo. The cons were the cost (it’s only about $600-$650 to fly to Tokyo, but with food, housing for 1.5-2 weeks…) and the fact that I already made a plan, and this was not part of my plan.
In the end, I said screw it, and threw the old plan out the window. I want to run the Tokyo Marathon, I’m thrilled about having this semi long-term goal to work towards, and I am excited to visit Japan for the third time–this time, with Lior.
Tokyo, here I come!
source: Tokyo Marathon website