Another Year. Another Half Marathon.
Remember this time last year I ran the Robin Hood Half Marathon and was 4 minutes off my target time of 100 minutes? Well, this Sunday I'm running the "race" again in the 2008 Nottingham half marathon. This time I'm hoping to smash the 100 minute barrier.
My ultimate goal is to run a half marathon when I am 36 (in less than 3 years) in the same time I ran one when I was 18 -- 1hr 27mins. To be as fit again as I was at half the age would be a massive boost to my confidence. Maybe a ten year break from sport and life of hedonism isn't irreversible after all. We'll see. The hard part won't be the actual training as much as it will be finding the time to do it.
This year I hope not to make the same mistake as last year and start where it tells you to if you plan to run a sub 1hr 40min race. It soon became obvious that everybody in front just wanted to start as close to the start line as possible, regardless of the time they thought they'd achieve. This left Tim and I having to pick our way through the crowds and never able to achieve our own pace. People!
So, wish me luck this Sunday morning while you have your lie-in and read the paper!
If you want to help motivate me then I told my friend Shaun I'd see if I can raise some money for his son, George, again. If you want to help then you can do so here. Don't worry I won't mention it again or pressure you in any way. What with this being the year of the "credit crunch". Any money raised will go toward buying George one of these specialist pushchairs.
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Good luck Jake
Good luck. I'm training too for run a Marathon 20 years later my first one to see what it's changed......
Good luck, hope you get close to the time you want to achieve!
Jake,
Best of luck on your marathon. My wife is also running both the Philadelphia and New York Marathons this year for brain tumor research.
Last year she finished the New York Marathon in exactly 5 hrs.
Bet of luck,
David Bier - NJ
6 year brain tumor survivor !!!
Good luck ... I'm 33 now and just started exercising last year after 12 years of inactivity. With 3 small children, work and life, it's hard finding the time to train.
In some races I've been, people in their late 30s/early 40s run amazing times. I suspect (knowing a couple of these cases) that they have more time to train now their kids are 5 years old or more.
So there's hope for me to doing a better time than when I was 18. Actually, I didn't race at that age ;)