It's about time...

It's a blog. It's a training diary. It's both of these things, but most importantly this is the diary of a journey. What could be simpler? Probably a lot of things but, then again, I never seem to be one to take the easy option. Just ask my wife…

I really want to use this blog to document a journey through time. Not in a Doctor Who sense, obviously. The only way I can become a madman in a strange blue box that seems bigger on the inside is to throw my toys out of the pram in Ikea. No, I mean a journey through time that takes me from now (November 14th 2012) to a specific point in time (slightly before 12:45 on April 21st 2013) and a specific place (The finish line of the Virgin London Marathon on The Mall).

Now, why might this be interesting? Well, it might not be, but at least by writing a blog about my journey I will be able to vent my spleen upon the interweb of cyber space… And what's with the specific time 'slightly before 12:45'? Well, look at the photo. This was my third attempt to run a sub-3hr marathon & the chip-time was 03:00:30. Good if you like symmetry in numbers, but not much cop if you were desperate to go 31 seconds quicker than you actually managed (or 1.19231 seconds per mile if we want to get really anal about it). My previous attempts at the magic time barrier had both been in 2011, firstly in Edinburgh (03:04:41) and then in Wolverhampton (03:04:16). As my marathon debut, in London in 2007, resulted in a 04:58:09 finish, the turnaround is nigh on miraculous... 

So... My London Marathon training schedule begins in 19 days time, on December 3rd, just 36 days after my last marathon which was in Snowdonia.

So until then I'm making the most of my 'recovery' time. I'm eating & drinking what I want; beer, wine, pizza & chips, (all a massive no-no for me when I'm marathon training) are back on the menu. I'm running for fun, not to a schedule, so certain distances & terrain are no longer a requirement. Speed is unimportant, unless it's one of the 7 races that are dotted around my 'month off'. And I'm swimming a lot more - after London I aim to lose my Triathlon virginity, but that journey may have to become a postscript...