“All we have is the here and now”, was my thought as I stood in my starting pen and shuffled towards the start. 8 minutes to go. I kept my warm layers on until 3 minutes to go, when I then handed them to a volunteer who was promptly collecting the donation clothes from the railings.

It would be unjust to say I didn’t train for this race. It would be disrespectful to those who help me, undermine the work I have put in, and be a lie to my clients.

Travelling for a race is extremely exciting; it’s certainly different to racing locally. But it also means you might need to be a little bit more organised. Here are my top 10 tips for your racing travels:

“Power of the pack”, “there is no I in team”, “stronger together”, there are hundreds of go to sayings and quotes about how powerful a community can be. But do you ever stop to really think about? To think about the community that you have, or don’t have, and how this impacts your training and lifestyle.

Google might tell you 8, 12, or 16-weeks. It has a point. Focused training for any event where you are dialling in paces and distances should be considered and approached over a block of time. But obviously the more complicated answer is, it depends!

Why were there so few females running Milano Marathon? This question has been bothering me. I even pondered it during the marathon itself. I was very aware that I was amongst a sea of men throughout the entire race. And it was nothing to do with my starting sector…

Two pieces of advise I think about often:

1. Don’t make a decision on something when you are emotionally high or low

2. Don’t race as a punishment for a prior race