Coffeeman makes a comeback

Two days ago I was due to run the Lausanne marathon, but I went to visit my 90 year old mother instead. She had actually been worrying about MY health and needed reassurance, so the 200 mile round trip was appreciated by all.

I made the mistake of looking up all the Swiss local newspapers on the web and Swiss TV to see their coverage of the marathon. Of course - beautiful sunny day, cobalt blue skies, the alps glistening across the calm waters of Lac Leman. I'd have liked to have seen an early cold front, sleet and high winds off the Jura - fog even. At least it was a bit warm - 23 degrees by my predicted finish time - so I can just about console myself with the fact that I might have been suffering slightly more than normal had I been in the race.

Later in the day I very much got the feeling that it was time to move on from this. I got injured quite a lot in that other running career 20 years ago and once stupidly ran a 1:20 half marathon (Roding Valley, Chigwell, Essex in 1986) when I had pretty severe foot pain from about 8 miles. I was a member of the club that organised the race, so no pulling out! That turned out to be a peroneal tendon insertion strain that stopped me running for a month and for one reason or another stopped my progression to ever faster times. By the time I got back into training my life had changed and we moved to Switzerland in January 1987, and my running slipped back in the list of life's priorities.

I have been running 3 times since coming out of hospital and yesterday ran a brisk 5 miler on a familiar out-and-back road course in almost exactly the time of 3 weeks ago, the fateful last run before the plague struck. The fact that my legs feel pretty good today has led me to believe that "I am back" and can now truly begin to plan for some racing ahead, and especially a marathon.

I looked at a few marathons in the UK - there are very few in the winter - but Luton in early December comes too early (perhaps not for me, but certainly for those who had sat by my hospital bed). In any case Luton in December is not quite as attractive a prospect as Lausanne in a golden indian summer! But maybe I can find a couple of mugs to run the relay with me..... So I looked about 16 weeks ahead and straight away found Seville on Feb 11. (note to self - must learn some Spanish so I can at least handle the entry!) This is somewhat ironic as I had thought of running this race in 2005 as my running had once again threatened to get serious again in the autumn of 2004. However I managed to get a severe ankle sprain running in the Chiltern woods in the dark, whilst wearing some stupidly inappropriate cross-country studs, and this stopped me running properly for months. Hopefully I can avoid such a misadventure this time around.

So in theory I am in training again and I am just in the process of scouting around for a 16 week programme and some prep races to "make a plan". I have three pairs of reasonably new shoes that need to get some wear.

My fund-raising for the orphans in Uganda was virtually complete and I will update the blog with the pledges for the last miles. We already sent over $2900 in mid September to fund 86 children's school fees for the last term of this school year and one advantage of running in Seville in February is that it will coincide with the first week of the new school year at Busalamu Secondary School, where our "marathon children" are going to school. Maybe it was fate that decreed this should be thus. Let's hope so.

Of course the big downside of the 16 week shift of marathons is that now I get to train right through the depths of winter for my race. A test of character and motivation that I hope I'm up to. (You see, self doubt attacks from all sides when you have a real running setback.)

My next blog entry will feature my "plan".............