The London Marathon : The Clocks Go Forward! (Blog 12)
Posted by: Adam Thomas in Untagged on
May 3, 2007
Friday 23rd March 2007
I didn't go running today. I returned home at nearly 10:30 pm from a meeting which started at 08:00 pm and had already made my mind up that I was not going to go running, only to receive a message from Steve that he was not running that night either.
That made it easier to convince myself that I needed the rest because I was going to play another �double header� of football on Saturday, the next day before Sunday, the Asics Reading Half Marathon.
Saturday 24th March 2007
“Substitution”
My weight: 11 stones 10 pounds, 164 pounds, 74.38 kilograms. - Weight difference: No change.
With the rain over the last few weeks a number of football matches had to be called off due to water logged pitches so it was again no surprise to find out that Old Lyonians 4th team had to play another “double-header”, 2 games in one afternoon against promotion rivals Carshalton 7th. This time the games were played at Old Lyonians home ground at Pinner View Harrow. Each game was 1 hour long with a 10 minute break between. The referee turned up 10 minutes late so kick off was at 2:15 pm instead of 2:00 pm. Both games were drawn 2 – 2 with each team gaining 2 points. This didn't do much for either teams hopes for promotion to the division above. We did have 3 “Subs” and this made a big difference from the previous week and I managed not to get injured.
Sunday 25th March 2007
"Old Man vs Young Man"
My weight: 11 stones 10 pounds, 164 pounds, 74.38 kilograms. - Weight difference: no change. Running conditions: good. Time of run: 10:15
I am beginning to wonder if my weight would ever change, I need to loose at least 4 more pounds, more if I can, to reach my desired weight for the London Marathon. With the clocks going forward by 1 hours to signal the start of British Summer Time (BST) I was concern that I would not get up in time for the Asics Reading Half Marathon. With just over 4 weeks to go to London Marathon on the 22nd April 07 I wanted to ensure that I was in good shape to complete the 26 mile distance in my target time of 4 hours 30 minutes, so running the Asics Reading Half Marathon would be a good gauge.
When I turned up at Steve's to drive to Reading, Adrian and Louise, two friends of Steve's from the Well Being centre were just arriving. They were going to run with us today. We set of for Reading after collecting Adrian's running number and tag and arrived in good time. We managed to find free Sunday parking near Reading Station, got onto the shuttle bus that took us to the starting area near Reading FC Madejski Stadium. The finish was actually going to be inside the Madejski Stadium. It reminded me of finishing a half marathon I completed back in the 1980's inside the old Wembley Stadium, a great experience. After a long queue to put our bags into the baggage area we went down to the starting line with the other 14,000 or so other runners. Whilst waiting to put our bags into the baggage area it was cold and the wind made it colder. The weather outlook for the race was cloudy with sunny spells and a mild temperature. It certainly didn't feel mild at the starting area and deciding what to wear was difficult.
All 4 of us started near the back, it took 9 minutes to cross the starting line, and managed to run together for the first mile but then we lost sight of Louise in the mass of runners behind us and by about 7 miles I lost sight of Steve and Adrian in the crowd of runners ahead of me. At 12 miles I looked at my watch to see that I had approximately 10 minutes to get to the finishing line under 2 hours. By the time I approached the Madejski Stadium I knew it was going to be tight. When I entered the Madejski Stadium the crowd was cheering everyone on and the sound was fantastic.
I completed the Half Marathon in 2 hours and 27 seconds by my stop watch. 28 seconds outside my target of under 2 hours. Steve and Adrian had both finished in 1 hour 55 minutes but with Adrian, the younger man, mid twenties, finishing ahead of Steve, the older man, early forties, by less than 10 seconds but the younger man had triumphed.
Monday 26th March 2007
Didn't run, rested in preparation for the weekend.
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:9-10
Wednesday 28th March 2007
Didn't go running again, gave my legs another day to recover from the weekend. I had a look at the Asics Reading half marathon web site http://www.asicsreadinghalfmarathon.co.uk to find out what my official time was.
The full weblog postings can be found at http://www.genesis-es.co.uk/london_marathon/
I didn't go running today. I returned home at nearly 10:30 pm from a meeting which started at 08:00 pm and had already made my mind up that I was not going to go running, only to receive a message from Steve that he was not running that night either.
That made it easier to convince myself that I needed the rest because I was going to play another �double header� of football on Saturday, the next day before Sunday, the Asics Reading Half Marathon.
Saturday 24th March 2007
“Substitution”
My weight: 11 stones 10 pounds, 164 pounds, 74.38 kilograms. - Weight difference: No change.
With the rain over the last few weeks a number of football matches had to be called off due to water logged pitches so it was again no surprise to find out that Old Lyonians 4th team had to play another “double-header”, 2 games in one afternoon against promotion rivals Carshalton 7th. This time the games were played at Old Lyonians home ground at Pinner View Harrow. Each game was 1 hour long with a 10 minute break between. The referee turned up 10 minutes late so kick off was at 2:15 pm instead of 2:00 pm. Both games were drawn 2 – 2 with each team gaining 2 points. This didn't do much for either teams hopes for promotion to the division above. We did have 3 “Subs” and this made a big difference from the previous week and I managed not to get injured.
Sunday 25th March 2007
"Old Man vs Young Man"
My weight: 11 stones 10 pounds, 164 pounds, 74.38 kilograms. - Weight difference: no change. Running conditions: good. Time of run: 10:15
I am beginning to wonder if my weight would ever change, I need to loose at least 4 more pounds, more if I can, to reach my desired weight for the London Marathon. With the clocks going forward by 1 hours to signal the start of British Summer Time (BST) I was concern that I would not get up in time for the Asics Reading Half Marathon. With just over 4 weeks to go to London Marathon on the 22nd April 07 I wanted to ensure that I was in good shape to complete the 26 mile distance in my target time of 4 hours 30 minutes, so running the Asics Reading Half Marathon would be a good gauge.
When I turned up at Steve's to drive to Reading, Adrian and Louise, two friends of Steve's from the Well Being centre were just arriving. They were going to run with us today. We set of for Reading after collecting Adrian's running number and tag and arrived in good time. We managed to find free Sunday parking near Reading Station, got onto the shuttle bus that took us to the starting area near Reading FC Madejski Stadium. The finish was actually going to be inside the Madejski Stadium. It reminded me of finishing a half marathon I completed back in the 1980's inside the old Wembley Stadium, a great experience. After a long queue to put our bags into the baggage area we went down to the starting line with the other 14,000 or so other runners. Whilst waiting to put our bags into the baggage area it was cold and the wind made it colder. The weather outlook for the race was cloudy with sunny spells and a mild temperature. It certainly didn't feel mild at the starting area and deciding what to wear was difficult.
All 4 of us started near the back, it took 9 minutes to cross the starting line, and managed to run together for the first mile but then we lost sight of Louise in the mass of runners behind us and by about 7 miles I lost sight of Steve and Adrian in the crowd of runners ahead of me. At 12 miles I looked at my watch to see that I had approximately 10 minutes to get to the finishing line under 2 hours. By the time I approached the Madejski Stadium I knew it was going to be tight. When I entered the Madejski Stadium the crowd was cheering everyone on and the sound was fantastic.
I completed the Half Marathon in 2 hours and 27 seconds by my stop watch. 28 seconds outside my target of under 2 hours. Steve and Adrian had both finished in 1 hour 55 minutes but with Adrian, the younger man, mid twenties, finishing ahead of Steve, the older man, early forties, by less than 10 seconds but the younger man had triumphed.
Monday 26th March 2007
Didn't run, rested in preparation for the weekend.
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:9-10
Wednesday 28th March 2007
Didn't go running again, gave my legs another day to recover from the weekend. I had a look at the Asics Reading half marathon web site http://www.asicsreadinghalfmarathon.co.uk to find out what my official time was.
The full weblog postings can be found at http://www.genesis-es.co.uk/london_marathon/
