Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Marathon Musings

by Russell Turner - 18:24 on 25 April 2018

Home: the daffodils are in bloom, the grass needs cutting, cats are moderately pleased to see us, and the weekend seems like it happened a year ago. If it wasn’t for the medal hanging in the bedroom I’d think it was a dream.

Despite doleful warnings from Cathy the Runner, I never did the crab walk. Three days after the marathon my legs feel good enough to run at the weekend (which I won’t because City Limits has two gigs). I felt this was proof that I hadn’t pushed myself hard enough in London but Matchgirl tells me you’re not supposed to be a physical wreck at the end of the race and for the following days. That I’ve recovered so quickly is testament to the fitness I’ve built up in the last six months. I’ll take that.

My souvenir MarathonFoto pics are still being processed. With luck they’ll be ready for download by the end of the week. In the meantime, here’s one of me passing the Cats Protection cheer squad and looking remarkably happy considering it’s at Mile 25. Shame it doesn’t look more athletic.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Next week if I could. The ballot for next year’s London Marathon opens on Monday for five days (the moaners who complain they’ve entered for ten years and never got in are moaning already) and my name will be in it. After all, I still think I could squeak in at under five hours given the right weather, despite recent evidence to the contrary. Another year’s training would probably help too.

Or I could speak to my new chums at Cats Protection to see if there’s a charity place going, although raising £2,000 would be a big commitment, especially as I’ve called on lots of goodwill to raise money this year. (The giving page is still active, by the way – reaching £1,000 would be nice. Thanks to everyone who's already sponsored me.)

Whatever, no doubt much to the amusement of Matchgirl, Cathy and UltraPaul (thanks again for all the support), it seems that my running career, rather than now being over, has just begun. The Aviemore Half Marathon in October is a possibility; the ballot for the Great North Run opens in January; the Manchester Marathon is less than a year away.

However, in the meantime I’ll try to find something else to write about. I’ve even generated my first meme as a reminder.

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