For the first time since I hobbled home after completing my first London Marathon in 2010, I am feeling excited about training to do it all over again - this time in Edinburgh.
Running the marathon in 2010 was one of the most uplifting, life-affirming moments of my life, when I conquered not only 26.2 miles but several demons along the way.
Afterwards, it was shite.
I never wanted to think about running again, hated the thought of poncing around in lycra shorts and the idea of begging my friends and online acquaintances for hard-earned cash was unbearable.
It is a universal truth, according to me and Marc Cooper, that once you have achieved that impossible task, whether running a marathon, or cycling from Bristol to London, or fathoming a self-assessment tax form, doing it again is actually twice as hard.
Or as those multi-championship winning football managers will tell you, winning the league once is one thing, defending the title is a whole other challenge.
Anyway, for those reasons and many others, mainly involving cake, real ales and a general aversion to stretching anything other than my waistline, running anything more strenuous than a virus scan on my laptop has been out of the question.
But, rather like the memory of childbirth, (I'm told) the pain has receded far enough for me to forget what a particularly stupid and unnatural thing running 26 miles really is, and I'm back in the saddle/running shoes and looking forward to taking on Edinburgh next year.
I do quite enjoy the challenge, and I kind of wish I could say that I deliberately piled on four stone since the last marathon in order to make it all worth doing again, but really, that was mostly down to the aforementioned cake and beer.
Over the past few weeks I have been back into running and today managed just over 3.5 miles up and down the picturesque River Avon Trail. Only 23 or so to go.
So, aside from wanting to get back into a whole wardrobe of natty M&S shirts and suits that haven't seen the light since the last Labour government, I have also been personally motivated this year to raise money for cancer charities.
Both myself and Amy, my long-suffering other half, have lost family members down the years, and 2012 has seen good friends and loved ones also lost too young.
I am looking to raise £1000 to be split between Cancer Research UK and Bristol charity St Peter's Hospice.
I wish I could do more, I wish I was a brilliant research scientist or a gifted surgeon, but as those career paths (as well as any others half way useful) are closed, I can do something else, like run a marathon. And you can help me, by supporting my effort in any way you can.
I am fundraising through Virgin Money, as all the donation goes to the charity, and you can find the page here: www.virginmoneygiving.com/SimonPeevers
But, in addition to the usual tales of the tribulations of training, I will also hope to offer a bit more in terms of useful information about running, what to eat, how to fit your training around a busy working schedule and asking for any tips on how to achieve all of that.
If you are taking on a similar challenge, get in touch, would be great to hear about your experiences too.
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