In the running

Step two is to enter the race which is done on-line. No going back now but it is a great event for the Town and one I didn't really fully appreciate until I ran the race last year. I have also been thinking about my training regime.

Last year it was all a bit over the place - I just ran the streets of Hastings for a few weeks without much of a sense about how far I was running or, indeed how fast. It was a little like Rocky Balboa out of Rocky II who punches slabs of meet and runs through Philadephia. Having run the marathon last year with extreme tooth-ache wacked out on pain killers, with a stinking cold and not being able to eat for 24 hours it did feel as if I had been in a boxing match.

I feel the time has come to give a little more science to my training. So I am reading a book (Marathon Running for Mortals) which is telling me that last year I made some classic "first timer" mistakes. I now know that you should never train for a marathon by actually running the marathon distance - too damaging on the body - but rather through a sequence of steady runs slightly increasing in length as the weeks go by. I also learnt that you should actually cut back on the running in the last two weeks which was another error on my part.

The other thing I should report is the most amazing little gadget which I bought for £20 which may prove to be a good investment. Basically it consists of a little plug in unit which you attach to you ipod together with a little sensor (shaped rather like an outsized coffee bean) which you attach to your running shoe. It then measures the time, distance and pace per KM or mile. When you finish the run and plug your ipod in it then saves all of your statistics and sends them to a NIKE running website. Amazing. The only flaw is that I think it is a little over generous and seems to think you have run slightly further than you have. My house to Bulverhythe Depot is never 10k - is it? But generally an amazing little gadget. So we shall see how we go and if I can work out the technology I will see if I can post a little link on the blog. So now my training resembles all the scientific approach of Ivan Drago (from Rocky IV) so we shall see.