You know you're marathon training when...

Today I finished week 4 of marathon training, and with Manchester still 10 weeks away the tell tale signs are already beginning to show. Here are my top 5 things that happen to you when you are marathon training - sound familiar?

1. Runger
The hunger is real. Last week I woke up at 4am HUNGRY. It was not good. I'm basically hungry all the time. Word to the wise: it is inadvisable to leave any food unattended near me from now until mid-April, unless you are not at all interested in eating it yourself. Time to reintroduce the double breakfast methinks. Stuffing your face with gay abandon is hands down the best thing about marathon training.

2. My washing is out of control
Forget about all the running, keeping on top of washing my kit seems like a full time job in itself at the moment. This has resulted in me heading out the door looking like a toddler has dressed me on more than one occasion recently. But florescent green, purple, bright pink and blue do look good together...right?

3. Marathon brain has reared its' ugly head.
When my mate Ellie and I started training for our first marathon we discovered 'marathon brain'. I expect this is like what pregnant people refer to as baby brain, but with more running. Too tired to hold an actual conversation you still give it a go, but that word you're looking for is just out of reach. Blank spots take over your brain and your words get muddled up. Too tired to get the words out? You've got marathon brain, my friend.

4. My social life is basically just running
'What did you do this weekend?' is of course a normal question, but I can tell you what I'll be doing every single weekend from now until mid-April. Running, eating and napping. On repeat. That's it.
If I do venture out on a school night (shock horror) my standard response will be 'Sure, but I've just got to do a run first so I'll meet you there'. That's right, run before work, run at lunch, run to dinner - just get your run in so you can pretend to have a social life amid all the marathon mayhem.

5. I'll definitely have told you
The easiest way to tell if someone is marathon training is by speaking to them - they DEFINITELY will have told you. Re-read my first sentence of this blog. If I've spoken to you in the last 6 weeks I will have said the words 'marathon' and 'training' to you at least 47 times. Us runners like to tell everyone, all the time. Man in the shop? Told him. Hairdresser? Told her. Basically, as the legend goes, no one ever ran a marathon and kept it quiet.