I started running in 2002 to keep a friend company, flush on the success of me completing a mile fun run with one of my sons. I have finally got my sub-4 marathon after 7 years of trying (18:10:09 Abbingdon). I have achieved a lot of other stuff I never thought possible along the way; including a 1st FV40 for which the trophy was presented to me in our local chippy.
I am really really glad I got my sub-4 hour marathon, which was my biggest running ambition to date. But, to quote a member of the Jamaican Olympic Bob Sleigh team, “A gold medal is a nice thing, but if you are not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
That is what realising my sub-4 dream taught me.
Now I run primarily for pleasure. I am thrilled with my past performances, but that is where they can stay. For now, I just want to try new things, and run in beautiful places, and in quirky events; and if my form keeps anywhere close to when I was at my best, (which was nothing special in comparison to many) that will be a bonus. What is more crucial to me than anything at the moment is staying injury free. And if that means keeping the mileage low, then that is what I will have to do.
Update :- following on from an amazing two months at the back end of 2011, which not only saw me get a 5k 70% WAVA, and finally after years of trying get 1000 miles for the year, I have only gone and got 2, count 'em 2 PB's this year :):):) And to think I had written off a PB as a thing of the past.
so for the rest of this year, I plan to do Thunder run, I have entered the Derwent Trail and the District Double Lakeland trails in the Autumn, and depending on how the mood takes me, I may well try to see if there are more PB's where the last two came from
I think, for now, marathons are going to be a thing of the past. Simply because I do not want to give my body any more pounding than necessary, and I want as long a running career as I can manage. I think for this runner, too many more marathons will have an adverse affect on that.
