Welcome to your local community website...
Marathon Mania blog: Going to the dogs without hitting the wall
Gazette reporter James Cracknell describes the highs and lows of training for his first London Marathon.
I'VE got new running shoes, new running tights (not that I had any before) and a new running vest.
All that's left to do is to get my body into the kind of shape that will cope with a 26.2-mile jog around the capital without keeling over on the Isle of Dogs.
I'd tried for several years to win a coveted ballot place in the London Marathon, without success.
The other ways of entering the big race have never appealed to me: raising at least £2,000 for charity (the best I've managed is £250 for a half-marathon) or through membership of a running club.
The irony is that since September, when I was overjoyed to discover I'd finally won a place, I signed up to my local club anyway for fear that my self-motivation was barely enough to get me out of bed in the morning.
Since then I've found running every Wednesday night alongside 25 other club members hugely enjoyable.
It has tapped into my competitive spirit and engaged the voice inside my head, which tells me: "James, you're better than this. You can overtake this guy.
"Come on, what's wrong with you, he's at least twice your age!"
I guess there are many reasons for wanting to run a marathon.
But whatever those reasons - charity, fitness, self-actualisation - all of them are a cover-up for the memory of the Ancient Greek messenger Pheidippides, who ran 26 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, only to die on arrival.
Are you running the London Marathon this year as well? James would like to hear from you. Call 07795 811 367 or email jamescracknell@trinitysouth.co.uk
We'd like to hear from you. Send your stories, pics and videos
Older/Newer
« Anti-HS2 campaigners plan next steps | Artificial pitch set to be rejected »
Leave a comment