The first week or so of the new year was lost to a heavy cold , but it was then straight back into the normal routine of pretty high mileage, regular quality sessions and racing, which seemed to be serving me well. My plans for the year would be determined by the changes that would come with the arrival of our first child in April. The main targets for the year would be an attempt on the full distance of the 78 mile cross country footpath the Wealdway in August, using Marathon races as long distance training in the build up. My long term aim of getting under 2hrs 40’ for the marathon was motivated largely by the fact that, in those days, a sub 2’40” gained an automatic entry into the London Marathon, and in my mind represented the “cut-off” point between the serious athlete and the “also ran”, and although I seemed very able to run comfortably under 2hr 50 almost at will, getting under 2hr 40’ was proving elusive, and was therefore my main target for the latter part of the year.
Winter and early springtime races included the county championships and Kent league cross country races, the Forbanks and Tunbridge Wells ½ marathons, with the Kent county marathon championship race at Thanet (Margate) on 6th April producing a pleasing result in strong winds, freezing rain and sleet. Placing 7th in the county champs race, in those conditions and turning in a time of 2hrs 43’26” which was just 9 seconds down on my PB felt like a good result. With Kim due to give birth within the next 3 weeks or so, I settled into a few easy weeks until after the baby was born (23rd April – hello Jack !)
Of course this heralded a serious reduction of good night’s sleep, but you soon adapt to the changes, and my long runs were mostly spent reconnoitring sections of the Wealdway in preparation for the attempt in August. This year’s Maidstone Marathon was being treated as little more than a steady training run, with no expectation other than to keep under 3 hours. Going down with a cold three days prior to the race, I considered not running at all. However on the morning I didn’t feel too bad, so decided to give it a go. Reflecting my lack of concern towards a time, I didn’t wear a watch. I set off steadily, but after a mile or so I started sweating up and feeling uncomfortable. At 3 miles, I came close to dropping out, but kept going and by 4 miles had started to recover. Going through the 5 mile mark in 30’03”, I began to feel strong, and gaining in confidence I pressed on at a quickish but comfortable pace. Through 10 miles in 59’45”, slowly but surely picking people off until at about ½ way I was up to 12th position. Soon after 15 miles, reached in 1 hr 31’20”, 2 or 3 people went past me, which was a bit worrying, but I stuck at it and kept fairly strong, pulling back to eventually finish in 11th place with a PB (just) time of 2 hrs 41’44”. Very surprised and pleased with both the position and time given my cold and the lack of quality training. The immediate targets on the horizon were to get the Wealdway run done, have a holiday, then get myself sharpened up for the sub 2hr 40’ marathon that I cherished.
Three days later I ran as part of a 3 man relay team in the annual Forbanks road relay in Beckenham. My team mates were Jon Welbon (15’40”) and Steve Chittenden (16’10”). My time of 13’58” over the 2.6 miles course was a 28 second improvement on last year’s time and felt like a very good run just 3 days after a good marathon. With my attempt on the Wealdway very much on my mind, I continued on a regime of high training mileage of between 60 and 90 miles per week, mixed with regular racing, All seemed to be going well, when with just 11 days to go I got an injury. Pain in the left ankle which I attributed to a recent change of shoes forced me to stop mid run. Not being willing to quit, I ran again later the same day, and applied an ice pack afterwards. The following day however I had to turn back only 1/2 mile into a run due to the pain. More ice that night and then another attempt the next day showed a dramatic improvement. 6.2 miles in the morning and another 5.8 miles in the evening seemed to confirm that the ankle was repairing rapidly. Subsequent days of 12.5 miles and 17.3 miles pretty much concluded my build up training for the Wealdway – I didn’t know if I’d done enough, but I’d done as much as I could ! Soon after the event, I wrote up an account of the WealdWay run, which I posted a couple of years ago – here’s the link: o.t.s.o…..Wealdway 1986
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After the WealdWay run I gave myself a week without running, to allow some recovery before having 3 days of very small ( 1 – 2 mile ) runs. After just two easy weeks I bounced straight back to a 50 mile week which included some fast stuff . The winter racing season started with the Reigate Priory relay. This tough cross country course of about 2.6 miles was mainly uphill for the first half, then back down for the second half. I had set myself a target of improving my personal best times on all previously run races throughout the winter, and got things off to a flying start with a P.B of 14’54” at Reigate. I planned a weekly schedule to try and keep to:
Sunday: Race or hilly 15 miles
Monday: Steady 5-6 miles
Tuesday: Morning 6 miles easy, evening 6 miles including intervals ( 5x3mins or 8x2mins or 15x1min )
Wednesday: 5 miles ( as I feel )
Thursday : Morning 6 miles easy, evening 6 miles including intervals ( 5x3mins or 8x2mins or 15x1min )
Friday : Easy into work – 4 or 6 miles depending on choice of route.
Saturday : Race or hard session if no race on Sunday. Easy jog if racing Sunday.
Another PB in the Rochester 5 on 16th November preceeded a small “crisis” in my running – no enthusiasm or desire, leading to taking days off. I took a full fortnight off at the start of December, to try to regain my appetite, before resuming on 14th December. Finished 1986 with a hilly 9 miles on New Year’s Eve to total 2,479 miles for the year.
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