Here we go again ~ another big race build up

The running thing started 7 years ago. I'd had a back operation and the surgeon told me that I should not run.

Three years of not doing anything made me overweight and extremely unhappy. Ironically being overweight is also bad for your back so I wasn't doing myself any favours.

one day I was so fed up I put on an old pair of running shoes and ran (slowly) around a 2 mile circuit without stopping. I was badly out of breath but had made it. i was also very sore the next day but managed to keep it up and with some support from good friends became a runner.

Of course 2 miles leads to 4 then 6 then 10K then a half marathon and then a full marathon. Of course once you get started it is impossible to stop (quite literally as I have never pulled out of a race) and that is where the mad runner comes in. Perhaps obsessive might be a better term but my wife says I am mad.

Well where do you go after a marathon ~ an ultra marathon of course. I'm proud to say that I have completed the 53 mile Highland Fling over the bottom half of the West Highland Way, the 43 mile Devil of the Highlands over the top half of the West Highland Way and the 96 Mile West Highland Way race.

So what now and why the blog. This year has been a relatively quiet year race wise because of injury but next year is my 50th birthday and I want to do something special.

Plans are for the London Marathon in April, the New York Marathon in November and the WHW Race in between in June. Usually I would try and throw some other random race in there but have been thinking that I train for too many races and even the professionals find it difficult to peak that many times in a year so will stick with 3 (for now).

Having missed the ballot for the London Marathon I managed to get a place through my club the Moorfoot Runners from Peebles which completes the picture of madpeeblesrunner.

My plan is to get a good for age time at London (sub 3.30) to qualify for New York. If I don't I'll probably try and get a charity place bur right now my focus is on sub 3.30. This will be challenging as my best time so far is 3.52.

So watch this space and see how I get on.