I've decided to start a little bit of blogging about my progress in getting ready for the Belfast Marathon on May 6th which I am running for Marie Curie in memory of my father, you can sponsor me via my JustGiving page. This is the first such entry.
I've just come in from a wet run on a cold January morning. At 43 my legs are quite as quick on the recovery as they once were half a life time ago. The aches I feel stay with me long after I get out of the shower or bath these days. My legs also feel like they want to go at the same pace they once did along familiar roads. Only problem is that back then I was training for maybe 5-6 miles of racing maximum, the occasional half marathon but not much else. I'm trying to educate them that they have to go five times further so go at a reasonable pace.
The other problem is that at the moment I am carrying around over 25% more body mass than I did at my facing peak. Now to be fair I was what a Doctor would call on the underweight side back in the day, who isn't as a distance runner but there is still a lot more of me around to move around the place and that takes more energy in the engine and the uphills are a hell of a lot tougher than I remember them. I used to be one of those guys who made up places going uphill, but also opened up on the downhill as well with a long stride.
All that being said I am on track, but it is a painful track. Getting back into a shape that I would be happy with to run 26 miles is the aim, not to find myself with 21 year old fitness levels. After all I'm not doing this for the honour of finishing well in a bid to advance my athletics career but simply to raise money for a cause close to my heart.
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