The Marathon Campaign Starts Here!

Shergar, Workforce, Galileo, Leicester Piggott, Willie Carson, Kieren Fallon, Frankie Dettori and, randomly, Santa Claus (1964), some of the names to win at
Epsom on Derby day.

Obviously I was never going to get near an Epsom win at
Tadworth Ten this morning, but I consider getting round in under 8 minute mile pace a small, personal victory. My time of 79.08 is some way off my ten mile best of 73.23, but the
Cabbage Patch in October had everything going in my favour: flat course, good road surface, lovely weather.

If you like a hill then Tadworth Ten will be up your alley. The race is two laps, with a combination of road and off road, a stretch through a small wood and hills (both up and down were equally steep). It’s certainly the toughest ten miler I’ve done, and with no immediate reactions from the niggles I’ve had over the past few weeks, I’m hopeful I can now kick on. As the title of this blog says, the Marathon campaign starts here!

I think the hills at Tadworth give you the equivalent of an extra mile work out than were you running on a flat course. As
Wokingham Half in six weeks is, I’m told, flat and fast, I think my half marathon personal best of 1 hour 44 (Watford Half, February 2008) is very much ready to be confined to the past. I have a target time in mind but I ain’t telling you what it is.

The most important thing now is to build up the weekly mileage. Given a two week break for flu, injury and ice I’m satisfied with a start of 25 miles for the past week (that doesn’t include the ten run over the Christmas weekend). Clearly this needs to be seriously improved but I know that can happen.

(Photo taken by Nigel Rothwell of The Stragglers)