I woke up on my 57th birthday weighing 106kgs and unable to run for a bus. This is someone who has run 5 ultra marathons and too many standard marathons, but I hung up those running shoes 15 years ago and just continued the merry drinking and eating without the training this resulted in my birthday blues, they may have also had something to do with the hangover!!!
I should also mention that all my running was done in sunny South Africa, where I lived for nearly 20 years, it could be described as a pleasure to get up and run in the early morning sunshine there.
Well first things first. lose some weight!!! So between October and the end of December 2007 I dieted, and I have to say did not cheat, well perhaps the odd glass of wine.
In three months, including xmas I lost 20kgs. Using the Cambridge Diet, I can recommend it just do exactly as they say and it works.
Next was to dig out my old running shoes, yes the actual ones, and stagger a mile or so round my local country lanes. Bingo, I survived.
Next I needed a plan, something to motivate me to keep going. I sat at my computer and typed in Running clubs in the south west, up popped Maiden Newton Runners, who met not a million miles from where I live, it so happened they met that evening in a local pub, what a bonus, so along with my wife Megan, off to the pub we went.
We walked in on their monthly meeting just at the time they were talking about their new Web Site!! this caused much chatter, some even suggested it was a set up by the sites constructor
in an effort to show off the results of his work, but I can confirm it wasn't a set up.
I should point out that MNR are not the largest running club in England in fact so far I think I have met 8 of its members and I'm not sure that this may not be all of them, they seem a great bunch, very welcoming and friendly.
It just so happens that at that meeting the London Marathon was mentioned and that the club had a entry that had not been snapped up. Yes, you have guessed it, I said I could quite fancy the entry, the following meeting saw me with the entry.
By now I had progressed to a running distance of 10klms, one sad bit of news, my old trusty running shoes gave up on me, the sole fell off one of the shoes, so I buried them with full honours.:wave:
To be continued.....