38836 Was My Number

Day:         88

Distance: 9.31km

Time:       45:56 secs

Calories:  720

I received my final copy of the Marathon News magazine this morning. More excitingly I also received my registration form, so I now know that my running number on 17th April is 38836. With exactly one calendar month to go until the big day I think I can honestly now say this shit just got real.

For tonight's run I decide to go with the "50 mins 2 mins easy 10 mins fast" option from Week 12 of the training guide. I set off with the "slow/fast" playlist on my ipod and it starts well enough with the first slow song giving way to the Rakes' "22 Grand Job" around 2 minutes in. I realise something's up when the breakneck riffing is replaced by Bill Withers' repetitive classic "Ain't no sunshine". As I recall, that's the fourth and final slow song on this playlist. Dammit, I've left the ipod on shuffle.

This is something of a double-edged sword. In one respect it's good because not knowing which song is going to be playing next keeps me on my toes. In another respect it means that any kind of structure to the run quickly goes out the window. So, instead of running at an easy pace for 2 minutes and then following it up with a sustained period at a fast pace the run begins with a quick interplay between slow and fast songs and just 20 minutes in I realise that I've heard all four slow songs already. Therefore, the remainder of the run was done with the backing of 26 minutes worth of fast paced punk and indie from the likes of the Clash, the Ramones and Idlewild. You couldn't ask for better (musical) running companions, but this isn't what I'd planned at all.

Like I say, it kept me on my toes but by the time I got back to the flat I was more knackered than I would normally be after the kind of run that I had planned.