I didn't quite run the London marathon.
Wow, how about that Daniel Wanjirup, eh? Holding off the mighty Kenenisa Bekele the way he did makes him one classy runner, and one of the great marathon finishes I can remember seeing. And Mary Keitani leading the women's race almost from the gun, and closing in on Paula Radcliffe's world record time! Well, OK so there's still a bit of daylight there perhaps, but Paula's time is not looking quite so impossible now as it was for so long.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, here in midlife crisis land it has been a far less dramatic running affair, with a step-back week meaning just 41km were entered into the running log across my last three runs over the seven days; not quite the full marathon distance. My legs are thanking me for it, however, and it's actually pretty damn exciting to be able to consider, probably for the first time in my life, 40+ km as being a step-back week. It is a gear lower than I have been running at in recent weeks, however, so quite timely and probably very necessary as well.
The only problem with step-back weeks is that, like an injury time-out, they see me losing focus, and therefore motivation, so I need to be mindful to ramp it up again this week.
But that Daniel Wanjirup! That was really something to see, especially as Bekele is renowned for his strong, fast finishes, and really looked as if he was going to reel him in. Let's not forget too, that Bekele has run the second-fastest time ever at 2h03m03s, and looked thoroughly determined to make amends after bombing out of the Dubai marathon in January where he was attempting to break the world record. In those final few kilometres Wanjirup looked as anxious as heck, and kept looking over his shoulder at the calm champion storming after him. At just 24, he really had no business fighting off the champ, but he did, and in very, very fine style.
OK, well, there you go. I think I just found the motivation I need for another big week of running. Let's see how it goes.
April May be alright.
