I’m Leyton Orient at the beginning of the 2014/15 season. The play off final is lost and I’m regrouping, ready to go again. I’m hoping this is where I can stop extending the Leyton Orient analogy, because as you may know in the summer of 2014 Orient were sold to some pisstaker Italians who tried to turn them into a reality tv show. They were relegated twice, all the players cleared off, and they were nearly bankrupt until they were saved by some doughnut sales millionnaires. It took ten years to recover. I doubt I’ve got ten years to sort out my marathon performance or that doughnuts will help so I think it’s about time I went full Man City. I’m going to sign Grealish and everything. Maybe he can run the marathon for me.
Since it’s the pre season break, I’ve had a couple of weeks off running, firstly because I ran the bloody Hertfordshire Mount Everest Half and it knackered me in ways my surprisingly decent time of 2:36 something doesn’t really do justice to. I went for a steroid injection in my right hamstring (spread eagled face with a physio trying to ram a needle in to my “surprisingly thick” bum skin) and I’ve been busily inputting provisional dates for my long training runs. I’m absolutely delighted by the prospect of running 30 kilometres in February, maybe I can go to a warm country to do that? An international friendly?
My goals on the way to the Hamburg Marathon are as follows:
- Get 5k back to sub 30
- Get to stage where I am disappointed when I am NOT sub 30
- Keep weight below 55kg. I look like a stick of celery and none of my clothes fit but needs must. Have learned that no amount of training or lack of injury is a substitute for being thin as far as running is concerned.
- Deadlift body weight (considerably easier if 3 achieved)
- Pace 70 minutes at a race (planned for RunThrough Olympic Park in February)
- Sub 60 10k.
- Do Brighton Half and for once not be banging on about 8 year old PB cos PB now not even one year old.
- Don’t tear a calf muscle with six weeks to go. Don’t completely lose the plot as a result.
- Hamburg Marathon: a) run all, or nearly all the way b) hopefully under 5:30 c) aim for sub 5 but don’t make this the be all and end all cos would be terrible if I got 5:01 and was disappointed!!
Time for kick off. Well, as soon as this needle in my bum has settled down.
7:07 