They say that being in love means never having to say you're sorry, and that having children means ALWAYS having to say you're sorry: certainly mine are responsible for a few things in their time. This time, it's my son, Owain, who has to take the blame on his ever-broadening shoulders.
When, at the end of September, he announced his intention of taking part in the Devizes to Westminster Kayak race over Easter weekend (first weekend in April) 2010, it seemed like a good idea, about time he started doing something with himself, hrrmphh, etc. However, over time, it has started a sort of guilty feeling in me, that I never did anything quite as ambitious when I was his age (no, it's NOT a mid-life crisis!), and a feeling that perhaps I should join him in this hairbrained scheme. Except that I don't have a friend of my age whom I could con into joining me.
So, if I'm going to do DW, it has to be in small, easily-defined chunks. And the first chunk is a half-marathon. I mean, DW is 125 miles of kayaking, involving 77 hoists out of the water, and 77 puts back in - a half-marathon is just over 13 miles of running (that's using legs, that were intended to get you from place to place), as opposed to kayaking (that's using arms, that were designed for holding your pint glass), so it's got be well over ten times easier!
March 22, 2009 is the date, and the training schedules in Running Weekly seem to suggest that ten weeks should be enough to get me into trim to complete the event. So, tonight it begins - first training run, twice around the circuit that goes around the local sports field, past the local pub, and down a rather dark path between our housing estate and the aforementioned sports field, somewhere around 23 minutes for the 2 circuits. Now, if that's 1.5 miles per circuit, keep up that pace for a total of 9 circuits, and you have a half-marathon in 1:43:30 - good enough (I think) for 3rd place in the over-60 age group in last year's event. Podium finish in my rookie event - I'll take that! Tomorrow I'll have to check the distance that I ran.
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