I am never doing another marathon again....

I am never doing another marathon again....

Whilst training for the Malta Marathon in 2015, my wife Clare was pregnant and our baby due around the race date.  My wife had always said that she would make me go to Malta if baby was here before, even though it would be difficult.  

As the latter stages of the training became more and more time dependent and my injured knee became more and more prominent, I struggled to fit in the long runs or tempo runs that were planned.

 I have always stated that training for a marathon is so time and life demanding that it is difficult to fit in around a normal life and sacrifices have to be made.  When training for 10k's and half marathons, you are generally out for no longer than an hour (hour and a half at max), 2 -3 hours as a general rule for full marathon training at the later stages completely changes your weekend.

I remember setting out for a 18 mile run on a Sunday morning at 6am so I could be back home before shops opened and we could spend the day together....that was the intention.  I returned some 3 hours later in agony.  My legs ached for a couple of days despite foam rolling, stretching and moaning. With the day out planned with my wife, this meant a further few hours walking round slowly and avoiding any stairs, then me passed out on the couch, snoring, around 7pm.

I fully admit that the experience in Malta was amazing and I loved the whole journey, but even on the run I was chatting with my Marathon Guardian Angel stating that I would never do another marathon again.  I know that my training for this event was not to the level it should have been and my thoughts were elsewhere (my daughter was born only a week earlier and I had left both my loves at home), so my goal times were quickly evaporated and just a finish line crossing was all I wanted.

Since this date, I have refocused on my 5k, 10k and Half Marathon runs achieving personal bests in all disciplines.  Personal bests that I am really proud of.  I am in no way a speed runner, and there are many, many people out there who may even laugh at the times I have set, but for me they are great achievements coming from the fitness background I had only a few years ago.

One personal best time still stands out on my portfolio though, I wanted to run the Malta Marathon in less than 4 hours, this has been my goal since deciding to take on the mammoth challenge.  Holding a current record (for my only attempt) at 4 hours 50 this is at least 60 minutes from where I want to be.

The only way to change this is to start training for Malta again.  To start training for 26.2 miles.

This time, my wife will be coming out to Malta with me as her intentions are to take on the Endothon (13.1 mile walk) and my great friend Beewell who will be taking part in the Half Marathon run (for his first Half and first International event).  

I will be logging training month by month and hopefully I will also have a few updates from Clare and Beewell along the way.

So as everyone says, I am never doing another marathon again, until the next one.