Road to London 2009

[marathondan]

Thanks for the supportive comments guys. Talk of battles and adventures are just what I need to fire myself up.

I could have done with FITC this week, as I’ve been doing 5-hour round trips to Cambridge. In theory I was working on the train, but the appeal of writing offline emails palls pretty quickly… Will look it out.

Sweder, to me your off-road adventures are far more challenging than city marathons, with their flat routes and uplifting atmosphere. I can’t imagine grinding out the last 6.2 along a windy ridge, with only a few hundred strung-out (in more than one sense) runners for company, and the odd sheep for support. I know you are sensibly wary of hardtop – I may regret this in 10 years – so I guess the main question is: do you want to inflict the torturous tarmac on your knees one more time?

EG, face it, you enjoy writing at least as much as running, if not more. OK, sitting on our arses writing that we can’t get motivated to go out running is clearly ironic, but your proposed rule seems unnecessary to me. Logging and blogging (or charting and farting [around]) is an essential part of the self-motivation process for many.

I wouldn’t trust myself not to have a schedule. For a start, it’s a golden opportunity to create spreadsheets when I should be working. I’ll post details shortly, and you’ll soon be wishing you’d never asked.

By the way, you’ve both picked up on "time-management issues" and "work and family commitments". I hope to never sound like I’m complaining. I really have a very comfortable middle-class existence. Others who are far less fortunate than me manage to achieve much more. I just need to keep an eye on my priorities and make sure that running fits into the list at an appropriate point.

As for races: no plans yet. I’ve never entered Cliveden, because by the time it closes in mid-November I’ve never made firm plans for New Year. I feel no compulsion to enter any races in the near future, but at some point the bug may bite again. Wokingham, and various local 10Ks, are possibilities. I’m a bit snobbish about Reading these days, feeling it’s poor value for money for the (ahem) "frequent" racer.