Marathon Update - July 2006

In April I watched a program on BBC1 called 'Run for Glory' which inspired me to want to run the 2007 London Marathon.

Unfortunately in my early training (Walking 4 miles to get to work) I suffered a stress fracture on my toe and was injured for most of May and all of June. The toe still doesn't feel completely right now.

Having not been able to determine what caused the stress fracture in the first place, I've not restarted my walks to work for fear of repeating the injury.

Although I've only lost 2-3 months, it feels more like 5-6 as I've been going backwards whilst not doing any training.

Therefore I've taken the difficult decision to put back my full marathon attempt until 2008. I will instead run a half marathon in Plymouth in the summer of 2007 and possibly another half marathon (if it is an annual event) in Bicton (North Devon) in November 2007.

I had initially intended to run the Bicton half marathon this November but have had to accept the fact that there isn't enough time for me to prepare for it (i.e. get fit).

Although I could theoretically get fit enough in time for the London Marathon itself, I think it would be potentially dangerous to take part without successfully completing a shorter event beforehand. I don't want to fail like Jade Goody did due to insufficient preperation.

Having not suffered a physical injury since I was about three (which I can't remember) this whole experience has been uncharted territory for me. I don't know how well my own body heals and now I have doubts as to how durable it is.

To sum it up, I've given myself more time to get rid of the excessive weight I'm carrying. So that when I do return to impact sports, my feet will be put through less stress and I will be far less likely to suffer a repeat injury.