Issue 375 - Mon 17th Jul 2006

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

You may remember that last week I mentioned how astronaut Mike Fossum had to take a surprising detour on his path to achieve his goal of going to space.
Fossum is today breathing the same air as me, as he and the rest of the crew landed a short while ago, and I'll carry on today a bit about the detour factor.
It's not unusual to have to change and adapt your plans and routes as you take action towards your goal.
In fact, it would be more unusual *not* to have to adapt.

My marathon training has once again come up with a good demonstration.
A fortnight ago when I did 13 miles, I found myself getting a touch bored as I went round and round a 3 mile lap I had worked out.
So before yesterday's 14 miler, I went out and worked out a different route.
I know that's a fairly literal example of changing my route, but it sort of works.
I hadn't realised that boredom would set in on the route.

On the actual London marathon there isn't muh repetition, so actually it is a good thing for me to do different routes.
I set out with a target time of 2 hours 48, and finished in 2 hours 48.
I was chuffed, although it wasn't without problems.

During this last week I had noticed some aching in a muscle which I'm fairly sure is the groin.
As I got settled into my walks and runs though, the ache eased, so I thought I'd carry on, but keep an eye on it.
(Not literally of course, running around constantly looking at your groin is not advised).

Yesterday after about 9 miles I was really feeling this muscle a lot, and considered stopping at my next route mark of 13 miles.
My feet were also aching as much as they had last time, and it was this which made me decide not to stop at 13 miles, as I didn't want it to become a mental block of any sort.
So I got to 14 miles, and felt the same as I did after 13 - no better, no worse, and it began to occur to me that maybe it always feels like that from that point right to the end!

Gulp.
If that's the case, it's the first time that I can begin to see why it is such a challenge!

This week I will research a lot into my muscle ache.
Lord knows my groin has precious little else use, but even so I don't want to set myself back!

Hmm, as I write, and you know I like to just whack the newsletter out as I feel, I'm not sure boredom is the right word for when I'm running.
I have no problem keeping myself occupied with thoughts, so I think it's the onset of aches which makes further 3-mile laps seem less than appealing!
In fact, my recent runs have led me to write a new song, and finish and old half-finished one, which hopefully I'll be able to unveil soon!

Ok, that's it for today, don't be worried about route changes!

Have a good week.

'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
Get involved with my Marathon at:
http://www.thegreatgordinomarathon.com