Off season 2012

[marathondan]

I've created a new thread just for housekeeping purposes really. There's very little going on, and that will probably continue until the start of the next marathon campaign.

I almost posted an update a couple of weeks ago, to try and motivate myself to run more. I didn't post it, and I didn't run more. Correlation does not imply causality. Not always, anyway.

So, there's been a high level of sporting inactivity from me this summer, even by my normal standards. The bike has remained in the shed, abetted by an infuriating puncture that I've had about half a dozen attempts to repair, but can never quite summon the motivation to deal with properly. The wetsuit has spent its second consecutive summer at the bottom of the wardrobe, and the pool sessions have been nil.

The real reason for this is that at the end of May, just as I was ready to dust off the runners, I was thrown an opportunity to do a bit of amateur website programming. I love tinkering with this stuff, and getting the thing up and running has become my main hobby / minor obsession for a couple of months. Sometimes an itch comes along that you just have to scratch.

I've said before that I don't have the commitment, or probably the biomechanics either, to be a serious runner all year round. 6 months a year is enough for me. So I make no apologies really. It means of course that in the long term my performance will gradually slide rather than stablising or even improving, but I can accept that.

Another factor has cropped up. Turns out I've been carrying a hernia for several months. (Yes, including during the marathon.) It's not causing me the slightest of problems, but I need to get it repaired. Surgery is booked for early September. The word so far is no heavy lifting for 4-6 weeks afterwards. Even if, in the worst case, I had to leave it 3 months before resuming training, that would take me to early December, which wouldn't be too late to hit the streets for a spring marathon. There's a chance I might be forced to skip a year of course, but it looks positive so far. Anyway, it's a new type of injury to blog about.

Fortunately, no spring marathon is currently booked. Assuming things look OK medically, I'll probably have a crack at Worcester or Milton Keynes. Big fancy dress ideas are afoot, but again no point committing to anything until I know I'll be fit to train.

And running? Little more than 26 miles to my name since I crossed the line in London. It would of course make sense to put down some regular miles before my enforced layoff. Otherwise I'll be coming back from over 6 months of virtual inactivity. Then again, I've still got a long list of bug fixes to work through...