Huh .... where did 2007 go?

I've just submitted an application for the 2008 White Horse Challenge. This is a 150km cycle race around the Berkshire countryside in April.

I always do this at the end of the year, I get gun-ho and sign up to marathons, triathlons and cycle races for the next year. I forget about the hours of training that lies ahead, the cold dark mornings in January and February, the panic in March as the early races approach .... and then in April I normally fall apart and get cross with myself for entering these events.

I know that if I don't do this now, while the joy of crossing the finishing line in 2007 is still fresh in my mind, I will never enter any events.

Tentative schedule for 2008

06th Apr 2008: Grove half marathon (confirmed)
13th Apr 2008: London marathon (waiting for lottery place - 9th year of applying)
18th May 2008: Copenhagen, Denmark marathon
25th May 2008: Edinburgh marathon (not sure about this one if I do Copenhagen)
15th Jun 2008: 70.3 Half Ironman, UK (confirmed)
23th Aug 2008: Reykjavik, Iceland marathon
07th Sep 2008: Ironman UK

................unless I win the lottery, in which case I will be sitting on a beach.

Finished marathon

The first 15 miles were great, I felt fantastic, hitting around 8:30 minute mile pace .......... but then I died. The earlier climbs and a killer over the top of a flippin huge mountain at 23 miles wiped me out. I was resigned to a slow overall time and was now aiming just to finish. The weather was terrible, wind and rain, but ever onwards.


At about 24 miles a women 100 meters in front of me suddenly stopped and started shouting, grasping her leg. Cramp!!! I stopped to help her, much to the relief of fellow competitors, but I was not racing for a time just to finish. She had cramp in both legs. She moved to the ground and I lifted both legs up in the air pushing them against my chest, as I rubbed her calves. I walked with her for a couple of minutes and left her walking slowly but determined to finish.


I crossed the finish line and was not too disappointed with my time, considering the weather and hills. Its certainly sparked me on to do another marathon soon, but this time, a marathon without any mountains.