Edinburgh Marathon

A gentle 5 mile walk today with my wife Caz was my recovery from the Edinburgh Marathon yesterday.
I posted a 03:59:12 according to my garmin at 26.2 miles, although the finishline recorded a 04:03 time at a distance of 26.45.
Anyway, the point is that I deliberately ran the race with no training in the bank other than a few interval speed sessions a 3x 6mile runs since Namibia in April.
It probably wasn't a wise decision to race a 10k on Thursday, and the calf strain I carried out of it manifested itself at 16 miles, and it was back to good old "Mind over Matter" as I gutted it out to the finish.

I have to be honest and share with you that during the last 8 miles,I doubted my ability to complete Spartahlon, if this was a bench mark for the pain of sustaining pace against the odds.

I like to use these tests of persistence, when the run is just down to you running against yourself, it focusses you neatly on the goal and you come out of it with a determination that you can build on during your training programme.

Training commences next week, and I have had help from my friend Rory Coleman, who has put me in touch with some guys who have completed Spartathlon.
So, more to follow soon as I prepare to go swifter...stronger... and longer than I ever have done before.