Last night something magical happened. At 5 o’clock I got changed into my running kit, which was slightly smelly after its third day in service without being washed (but that’s a debate for another post – to wash or not to wash kit). I headed out of my office and ran towards the River Thames and as I crossed Southwark Bridge I noticed something amazing…… it was still light.

Tower Bridge, Canary Whalf, Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathederal, I could see them all. The light was fading fast but for the first 10 minutes of last night’s run there was still light. Obviously daylight hours have been getting longer for a few minutes each day since 22 January, as they have done every year but the light evenings still seem to creep up on you and surprise you. Usually just when you need that extra little lift – there they are. Just when you think you can’t take any more of the cold and the dark, the light creeps in.

This is the first time that I’ve trained for a spring marathon and back in November when I decided to go for it the prospect of running four days per week for the whole of the winter daunted me. But now, with the evenings getting lighter and more than winter 100 miles under my belt I can look back and think – actually it wasn’t that bad. The dark, the cold, the ice, the snow, the rain all have one thing in common – the idea of running in them is much worse than the reality.

So I’m more than a little bit proud of myself that every run so far on the first seven weeks of my marathon training plan has a nice bold tick next to it. Only nine weeks to go!