Flora London Marathon 2007

I’m not entirely sure where to begin, so bear with me. I think it started, or at least began to take a life unto itself, one fall evening when we were sitting around sharing laughs & nursing pints of wholesome Guinness at the Penny Farthing.

With glassy eyes, we reminisced about the past and shared dreams of the future. It could easily have been Rumon or Jim who alleged, “wouldn’t it be entertaining if we, the b’hoys, went and raced a marathon together”, not so much a question, but a statement.

Within the last two years, we’ve all trod varying paths, Jim diagnosed with Guillen Barre syndrome and being told he might never run again, Rumon having had heart surgery and me, well I’m the odd one out. I’m just an accountant and mediocre mid-30's runner, trying to see how fast I can stop the clock over 26.2 miles before time catches up.

Earlier this week an opportunity presented itself to us, one we’d be thick to pass up. The details will unfold as the week’s progress, but like the Clash said, “London calling to the faraway towns” … we’re going to London baby, we’re going to London!

On a bittersweet note, I’m going to have to postpone a dream of racing Boston. I’ll be living vicariously through the experienced footsteps of Mike, Mark and oldLobo (guys, all the best and I’ll be following your progress).

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With 2 hours scheduled for today, I decided to head back to familiar ground, routes I’d run when training for the CIM. Out of town on the Galloping Goose and Lochside, through the lower trail system on Mount Doug, up Feltham and down to UVic, Cadboro Bay Road and home on Brighton. After about 15’ I took advantage of some kilometer markings on the Goose and decided to clock some splits, to get a better sense of my pace :

4:09.3, AHR 145
4:11.4, AHR 146
3:56.8, AHR 148
4:05.6, AHR 149
4:02.0, AHR 145

The run felt solid, a consistent and steady effort. I started out with a handheld water bottle filled with Gatorade (finished it after about 90’). I had one GU while waiting for some lights to change at about 28’ and a second after 72’ while heading down Shelbourne.

Training: a steady 1:58:54, approx. 28.3 km, AHR 143, MAX 158, 4:12 pace/km (6:46 pace/mi). As my achilles has been sore, I was aware of it during the run but it didn’t flare up, I iced it once I got home.