Reading Half, conquered. Next stop Edinburgh Marathon?

I did it! I completed the Reading Half Marathon. And with a respectable time as well.:-)

How chuffed am I? 2 months ago I woldn't have believed it possible. Back in early January I was unfit, fat, and getting fatter. The idea of running to the end of the road was getting embarrassingly scarey. But with eight weeks of training, if with a few hiccups along the way, I managed to turn it around. The long runs, track sessions and muderous hill training has done the business and taken me past another finish line. My time: 1 hour 40 mins - my second best time out of four half marathons. Not bad :-)

At this moment I only have London Half Marathon arranged, but that's in October. Between then and now I'll need to sign up for something else. London 10K? Edinburgh Marathon,? Elmbridge 10K? Father's Day 10K? Or maybe all of them??

Reading Half Marathon here I come

Training has finished. There is nothing more to do now. The race beckons. Ready or not, I'll be running this Sunday in the Reading Half Marathon.

But I am ready. Less beer and better training have been paying dividends. Track sessions have become easier, and long runs have been longer. Hill sessions remain as murderous as ever, but that has always been the case, so no major worries there. All said, 13.1 miles is well within my grasp.

One last hurdle beckons. A big beer Friday! 'Last Friday of the month' beers and a leaving do that could be quite monumental spells impending doom for both my liver and race efforts. Its going to be tough. But if I keep fairly sobre and make it through the evening without pickling my liver (and have to spend Saturday in bed recovering) I should be OK for Sunday. I am meeting friends after the race and don't want to report a bad time, so hopefully that should help keep me in line. Time will tell.

Now I need to sort out a race or two for summer. Edinburgh Marathon and a 10K in London?

11 Mile Run and Signed up for London Half Marathon

Nnnng!!! I am so unfit. Another hill session and another track session. Both completed, but not worth shouting about:( As for my long run, now that was a different matter. I totally smashed my 10 mile endurance target. An 8 mile trip to Brockwell Park and back then another 3 miles around the local park. 11 miles! Result.

Oh yeh, and I'm giong to need to keep up the training. I checked my email on Sunday morning and found I had signed up for the London Half Marathon in October. ****! I seriously need to drink less alcohol.

London Half Marathon

I've just heard there is going to be a London Half Marathon this year. The date I was given was October 5. The location is thought to be in and around the O2 in North Greenwich.

This is totally unconfirmed. It's the first news I have heard about it, and I can't find any mention of it on the 'net. However it was being discussed by fellow runners at tonight's hill training session, and the sources are far from unreliable. Some were against the idea because it would be a mass participation event, but I reckon it would be a cool idea, especially London has no half marathon race of its own. And if the atmosphere is anything like the London Marathon it will be lots of fun.

Update:
The race is called Run to the Beat - http://www.runtothebeat.co.uk. Runners will run to music that "will be scientifically selected to match the physiological and psychological demands of the half-marathon event". Music always helps me run further and faster, so this should be a good race. PB?? Count me in!