Chapter 7: Recovery, Cycling and Sky..

So Marathon No. 2 over. 4-hour time limit smashed.

I hurt a whole load, even falling into the downstairs cupboard with a blood-curdling squeal when I crouched down suddenly 2 days later. My lovely wife asks dmd to help her dress shopping: WALKING around shops..

But the pain subsides and you start to think… And let’s face it thinking takes you to dangerous places.

I dropped the training down as I was starting a new chapter in my life…well more akin to re-opening a closed chapter.

I took a contract role at Sky. It had been 5 years since I left to launch BT’s TV service, BT Vision and I was responsible for Broadband sales to  non-TV customers…. a goldmine and one that would generate many hundreds of thousands of customers for the business.

Sky is not a running culture but BOY is it sporty. At Sky it is all about cycling so I was treated as a bit of an oddity and all and sundry continually spoke about cycling with the same degree of reverence I afford to running.

I has applied for the London Marathon in the ballot but hadn’t got through and fancied another spring marathon. Could I do better?

I signed up to Brighton and started my training around Christmas time hoping to crack 3:30….after all I had taken a mammoth chunk off my time at Loch Ness…. what was another 7 minutes like amongst friends?

My average pace was just sub 8 minutes and I pretty much maintained this throughout my training regime. Looking back though I was getting the long miles in but only running twice, sometimes three times, per week, again not following any sort of training plan.

Shin splints didn't cause me too much trouble this time round which is a good thing as what was to rear its head at Brighton was not something you could run off after a couple of miles.