35. Flow
I spent most of the week in Dublin, work travel again, but this one felt different. I stayed by the coast, and every morning I headed out with my head torch for a quiet run before the city woke up. There’s something grounding about the sea breeze and the dark horizon breaking into light while everyone else is still asleep. Those runs became my anchor: simple, rhythmic, no pressure, just flow.
Cutting back on mileage these past couple of weeks has done me good. The body finally had a chance to recover, even if work filled most of the space I’d planned for rest, par for the course. I’ve learned that recovery isn’t just about time off; it’s about where your mind goes when you’re not running. This week, it went to family, to work that matters, and to getting ready for race day.
And then came Sunday. Marathon morning. Alessia, Coach Matthew, and I went to the expo the day before to pick up the bib and wander through the stands. It’s one of those small rituals I love, seeing runners from everywhere, nervous, excited, united by the same madness.
Race morning was pure joy. I walked to the start, just ten minutes from home, dropped my bag, and stepped into the corral with a calm I hadn’t felt in a while. No expectations, no watch-checking anxiety, just running. Five minutes per kilometre, steady as a Swiss clock. Six gels, one clear mind, and a heart full of gratitude. As I crossed the line, it hit me: this was the last race before moving back to London. A fitting sendoff after two years in Paris and three in Germany, a reminder that every chapter, like every run, finds its own rhythm before it ends.
Carve Out
This week I finished Genius Makers by Cade Metz. Key insight: Even the most advanced technologies, AI included, depend on human persistence, clarity, and values. Innovation isn’t just code; it’s consistency and conviction, the same ingredients that make training work.