By special request I have decided to write my own account of the next five and a bit months, minus the help of Lucozade, VIP accommodation and first class travel, not to mention doing without expert coaching.
For those of you who don't know me I'm Andy Sly, 45 years old and a "veteran" of 31 marathons, five of which have been in London. I began my marathon career in 2003 in London after luckily getting accepted through the ballot, and after that experience I set my stall out to complete 50 marathons before I get to 50 years old.
My marathon debut wasn't at all bad managing 3:21, though my next effort was a 3:36 in Blackpool since then injuries apart there has been a steady and sometimes dramatic improvement, down to my now pb of 2:48 in Paris this year, in fact I think my last 8 mara's have been sub 3's.
Although I take my training fairly seriously, it is all self taught and pretty fluid and was hoping to get some expert coaching from the competition but alas it was not to be. My methods can't be too bad as I help with the training of some of the runners at my local club, and all of the group I look after have had very successful years and all have achieved pbs in every distance they have tackled, though I do get moaned at frequently, especially when 6 mile steadies turn into 8 mile quicks! It's nice to be flexible!
My downfall for those who don't know me too well is my allegedly poor dietary habits whereby I almost always have steak & kidney pie and chips as a pre-race meal and enjoy a few pints into the bargain.
Anyway that's a brief intro, I will attempt to follow this through in competition with the other six.
