March 2012

[El Gordo]

An unpleasant 12 miler on Sunday night to round off week 14 of 18. As it was a step-back week I took to the field and went back to my old shoes (now with around 400 miles on the clock). But after the immaculately paved waterfronts of Sharjah, the surface (and my gait) felt lumpen and stodgy. It didn't help that we've entered the drought season already, and so the going was the firmest it's been for weeks - yes, I know I've been complaining about it being too soft. Wearing the old shoes was probably a mistake, and the back started twinging again, so much that after stowing my kit after the last lap I walked home to prevent further jarring. Maybe the economy flight back didn't help lumbar matters either.

Still, no matter, miles in the bank. This week is the big week, with runs of 5, 10 and 20 miles to complete. Then hopefully three weeks of relaxing taper, and off we go.

The marathontalk interview with Paul Evans was interesting. You can't imagine a more self-effacing elite runner. In his late 20s he was playing Sunday league football and working in a shoe factory in Lowestoft. (Cobblers, I hear you cry. No, it's true.) Then he entered a charity 10K and found himself knocking out a 33:30. He tried training with the local running club for a summer and soon was running sub 29 minutes, and within a couple of years had qualified for the Olympic 10,000m. He went on to win the Boston marathon and is the 4th fastest Brit of all time. Incredible to think this talent was only discovered by accident.

I'm sorry to say I'd not heard of Paul Evans, which is probably one of the consequences of him being 'self-effacing'. Just one small correction though - I was curious enough to google the fellow, and it seems it was Chicago he won rather than Boston. I'll add the podcast to the list. (It used to be an ever growing pile of "must read" books by the bed; now it's an ever-expanding "must listen" playlist on iTunes.) I've dipped into Marathon Talk a few times, and enjoyed it.

Good luck for the big week ahead.