Becoming a Marathon Racer

After some neglect I thought I would pipe up on this blog again. 

From cycling to triathlon and now to running the pursuit of something fast continues to burn even as the years keep clicking on.

Since the last post I gave the Marathon a whirl and pulled off a knock on the door performance with a 2.26. Lots of people gave me props for this but I was sure that despite the advancing years I could go a chunk quicker. London was actually a pretty bad race - I hadn't flowed properly at all and the average mileage in the six months leading up to the event was under 45.. hardly business time!

So to 2013 and the London Marathon approaches again and this year I feel like I am becoming a real runner. The legs have slimmed away from the cycling pistons and more into thinly honed pins. I have moved my running style away from the heel strike clatter toward a forefoot patter and as such the miles have ticked up. Still not up to the level they could be the odd 70 mile week and even an 80 but small steps are best to keep the body going.

From Kentish Town the pavements are pounded almost day in day out and often both morning and night. It can be a solitary toil but when the legs come on song and you're tempoing in light shoes around the park at under 5minutes a mile there is a great feeling of payback. 

So 4 weeks out from London things are looking good. There has been no performance which shows the shape I believe I am in but maybe that is no bad thing. The heart rate is as low as 32, 22 mile long runs with wind up seem doable and the body is bouncing back faster than ever.

So London aim is sub 2.20 which I think is genuinely in range and then a summer of fast track work and core strength before higher mileage and maybe a whirl at getting toward the Commonwealth qualification mark of 2.17  at The Frankfurt Marathon.

It feels like I am only just becoming a proper runner with a year and a half of training in the legs so who knows it could be possible?