24 years later here I am again...

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Pete Williams

Petecw29

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24 years later here I am again...

Back in 1983 I'd been running for around 2 years following the worst introduction to marathon running ever!!

And I mean EVER I did the 1981 Pony British Marathon in Bolton in August - as a footballer I thought I was fit and did 3 (yes THREE) training runs the longest being 13 miles!

Come race day and full of confidence I set off with around 8,000 others on the long trak around Bolton.  First few miles were OK everyone was laughing and joking, then it began to go quiet and the jokes stopped...

By 10 miles I began to reralise I'd made a mistake, at 13 I knew I had to do it all again if I was going to finish.  I walked and jogged but mostly walked to the finish in 5 hours 5 minutes!

I decided to do it propeerly and joined my local club - Oldham & Royton Harriers and took advice of more experienced runners.  In less than a year they had me training properly and I went under 3 hours in the Piccadilly Marathon with 2 hrs 51:04.

Which brings me to the 1983 London Marathon which I ran in 2:50:25 and, the title of this blog, 24 years later I'm back for my second go at London!  I don't expect to beat my 1983 time but at almost 51 I'm looking to beat 3:30.  And you can read how I go about it!

I've decided to do the Marathon to raise funds for Cancer Research UK see my Justgiving page for the reason why.

http://www.justgiving.com/PeteWsLondonMarathon 

  

 

 

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calm before the storm...

Well I've rested today and feel good if slightly nervous - starnge that cos I've done hundreds of races.  New racing shoes arrived yesterday and had quick sprint to shops and back in them this morning - will decide whether to race in ...

Cancer research

Well I've decided to run for Cancer Research UK and you can find out why by checking out the following link http://www.justgiving.com/PeteWsLondonMarathon  Heather thanks for the comments I'm going to look out for Pete on Sunday...

Too much rest???

Well with work and coaching, I've not run since Monday this week which is very unusual for me but at this stage of my training I've already done 4 runs over 20 miles and things are going well so an easy week now with the Blackpool Half on Sunday ...

Great session

Well after the confidence sapping 20 miler yesterday when I ached all night afterwards, tonight track session went superb!   Go to the track early and watched the under 11 group train and then they ran a golden mile and I ...

First race in the build up

Got the Great North Western Half Marathon in Blackpool next Sunday so an easier week this week to be ready.  Anyone going? I'm looking to run around 1:30 if I can but after today's run my confidence not what it was Pete!  ...

Bad day at the office...

Well today was another 20 and it was to be done in two parts - a 12 mile for those training for a half marathon and then the marathon runners were doing another 8. Unfortunatly  only 3 turned up - flu, injuries and a birthday party re...

Change of pace, or not!

It was on the track last night with the middle distance group I coach for a session to work on chaning pace so I broke down a 1500m distance into four paces.  We started with one mile warm up then some running drills, then started the session.  W...

The French Connection

Met up with Sandrine tonight - the French connection in our training group - and we did a 5.66 run.  Sandrine's had a cold and is still a bit bunged up but she was runnign well and she's getting ready for the Wilmslow Half Marathon as she's defin...

Short & fast...

Well as it was an easy day today I ran at lunchtime from work just a quick 3.6 miles run with the first mile uphill and then a few ups and downs before a long downhill for around half a mile then a final climb before a flat run in to finish. ...

Speed session

Well it was down to the track tonight and the group had a 5 x 3minutes hard with 3 minutes recovery sessiion planned.  We did the session along a strecth of road and started with a downhill 3 minutes, then 3 minutes jog - the quicker runners in t...

Pins & Needles...

Well todays 21+ with Lou and Sara started off in pain!  My left calf was hurting from the start so stopped to loosen my laces after 1 mile then caught up the girls again.  The route was slightly downhill for the first 3-4 miles but my left calf g...

Training so far...

In 2005 I trained and completed the Belfast Marathon in 3:31 only to find that the course was increased to avoid a bomb on the course and we ran over 27 miles!  The in 2006 I trained for the Dublin Marathon only to sprain my ankle 5 weeks before ...