Edinburgh no more...Cardiff here we come

It’s been a tricky few weeks, not in any real sense of course, I’ve been going to work, coming home, and repeating over and over. Compared to the lives of two thirds of the world it’s been absolute unbridled bliss and luxury.
However, in my own little corner of the world, I have been struggling over what to do regarding the Edinburgh Marathon, looming large on the horizon.
Basically, for reasons I can’t quite understand, the momentum in training I’d built up during the harshest winter for years, which saw me losing more than two stone and getting up to 15 miles in distance, has fallen more flat than George Osborne’s plan for economic recovery.

How I would probably end up during the marathon

The last few training runs where I’ve attempted to step up to 17, 19 and 20 miles have all ended badly, hobbling home, and consoling myself with a bag of chocolate Buttons and a bottle of wine. I don’t know what’s more tragic, my pathetic whining and failure in training, or the fact I’m morphing into some kind of male Bridget Jones.
So, anyway, I’ve made a decision based on what I think is the best option in terms of what I feel I can actually achieve, at the same time as honouring my commitment to Cancer Research UK and St Peter’s Hospice.
Having already run a marathon in 2010, I know that I’m not ready to go the distance on May 26 in Edinburgh, and I don’t think it is going to do any good to try to run it and knacker myself halfway through because of a lack of training, and end up hating the idea of running for another three years.
The whole point of applying for the marathon in the first place was to give myself the motivation to get off my backside and start running again to get fit and healthy. Not to break myself on the Royal Mile.
So instead of the Edinburgh Marathon I have decided that I am going to keep training through the summer and run the Cardiff Half Marathon on October 6.
I am still determined to raised £1,000 for Cancer Research and St Peter’s Hospice, and to uphold the memories of all those who initially motivated me to do that. It also means that all of you who have sponsored me so far, and I thank you all for your amazing support, can rest assured your donation will still count towards me pushing myself to the limit and running until I chunder.
In the parlance of management speak, I am realigning my long-term objectives, having seen what success looks like, and going forward will be drilling down to a more realistic achievement scenario.
So, it’s Edinburgh no more, but Cardiff and a summer of training around Bristol, here we come.

Hats off to London 2013

Great response today from the Virgin London Marathon following last week's events in Boston, as thousands fell silent in honour of those killed and injured in the bombings.
Although not there myself today, I did my usual thing of watching on from the comfort of the sofa and enjoyed watching the committed loons of the UK battling it out mile after mile.
Thinking now very much about my own challenge coming up at the Edinburgh Marathon on May 26, as it is now starting to feel very close. Mainly because it is.
I have to say, training has taken a dive of late as motivation has been hard to come by for some reason. I think to a certain extent I may have trained so hard in the early months of the year that I simply ran out of steam.
Have attempted a couple of long runs over the past couple of weekends and just blown up after a few miles, so today I was determined to finish a decent length run to try and bring back the confidence that seemed to be in such abundance just a few weeks ago. It's as much about what's going on in the head as the legs I think, and I've been letting the size of challenge overwhelm me I think.
Today Amy and I went out and took on a 10K run, which although a long way short of a marathon, was a decent target to aim for. Pleased to say we hit eight miles and it was a far more enjoyable experience in the sunshine and comparative warmth compared to January and February. Was also great to have Amy running next to me, although she was a little surprised to discover we'd run eight miles when we were only supposed to be doing 6.6.
So, we're collapsed on the sofa enjoying a Sunday night curry and feeling quite pleased with a good run under our belts today, and hoping that it will now act as a launchpad to push on to the full marathon in a few weeks.

Boston Marathon 2013 - Don't let the bastards win

For anybody who has ever run a marathon, a half marathon, 10K or just jogs for fun, and for those who turn out to watch and cheer and support those who do, this is an attack on every one of them.
The Boston Marathon is a truly international event, 96 countries represented among 27,000 people and over 200 runners from the UK alone.
These are just people like all of us, with hopes and aspirations for the day, been in training for months, maybe years, pinning their courage to their chests and fulfilling a dream.
The bombs went off at the finish line just four hours in, when the majority of club runners and so-called 'fun runners' would have been heading for the line, in fact the main bulk of pack following the elite finishers.
People who have been fundraising for weeks, hosting coffee morning, quiz nights and karaoke nights to help hit their targets for people with cancer, heart disease, mental health issues, children's charities, overseas aid charities, local hospices and probably the local church spire appeal.
People who have found more courage to carry out a single act of alturism than any of the cowards who planted bombs and set them to go off to cause the maximum amount of pain and death.
Fuckers.
So, in recent days and weeks I've been moping about whingeing that I'm not fit enough to run the marathon I'm training for, or that I can't find the motivation to get myself out and go running, and thinking that maybe I should downgrade to a half marathon in Edinburgh on May 26.
But following today's tragedy, and that of the young runner who died taking part in the Brighton Marathon at the weekend, it would seem the only fitting tribute anybody can pay is to keep going and put aside any trivial niggles to make sure we honour their memories. And don't let the bastards win.