So today I was launching an Olympic Gardening project to mark 100 days to go until the start of London 2012 and I just so happened to mention I was doing the London Marathon to a group of local politicians from the authority I work for, 2 of them were very impressed and wished me well, the third one raised his eyebrows and asked with a strange smirk on his face “so have you been training?” so I told him yes and that I had been running 3-4 times a week, and that I had joined the East London Runners. He then asked how long did I think it would take me to get round to which I answered “oh about 6 hours” to which he replied “oh so your not a proper runner then!”
Not a proper runner hey??
Fast forward 6 hours from that stuffy event and I could be found pounding the streets of Wanstead in the dark, in the pouring rain, wearing full running attire in my last 4 mile easy run before my marathon attempt.
So far in 2012 i have clocked up 210 kilometres, that’s 130 miles, 134 if you count tonights run, I have competed in a half marathon, a 10k, and a 5 miler finishing in the Olympic Stadium, I’ve participated in a weekly 5k time trial, attended a weekly club night running session ranging between 5 and 9 miles, I did a 20mile training run along the tow paths to Camden and back, and 16 miles to Bermondsey and back, plus interval training sessions in and around the streets of Stratford, sessions in the gym with a personal trainer and this week I’ve even resorted to yoga to keep my tapering body in good form…does that not sound like the behaviour of a proper runner?
Politicians hey? Who bloody needs them?