I must be mad

January 9, 2017 by Rob Kahl

Don’t answer that, I know the answer.

It was the middle of last year, the sun was out and for some reason I was in a particularly good mood. I was sat at work quietly getting on with whatever I was doing when I received an e-mail from my wife. She had been e-mailed by a friend of hers who had an affiliation with a children’s charity called Brainwave and they were looking for people to enter their ballot for a place in the 2017 Virgin London Marathon. I thought, why not? I would at least show willing, enter my details in the knowledge that they would get loads of applications and I wouldn’t get a place.

They e-mailed me straight back to say that the ballot would take place later in the year and if I was ‘successful’ I would receive an e-mail in October. Towards the end of October I breathed a huge sigh of relief, I hadn’t heard anything and thought I had dodged a bullet and missed out. I could hold my head up high and say that I had really want to do it but unfortunately didn’t get a place, darn it!

The very last day in October I received an e-mail from Brainwave ‘congratulating’ me on my confirmed place in the 2017 Virgin London Marathon. Argh! This was actually happening!

I do run a bit, well a little bit. I an a member of the Leigh-on-Sea Striders, who I meet every Monday evening and at least try and do the Southend Half Marathon and 10km run every year, but a whole marathon is a very different kettle of fish.

After first receiving the e-mail and blaming the wife I did what I do best and put my head in the sand and pretended it was all a bad dream, didn’t do any training and proceeded to eat my now substantial body weight in Quality Street's over Christmas.

Now it is the New Year and it is dawning on me that if I want to do this I need to pull my finger out and get on with it. The very idea of running 26.2 miles just seems ridiculous.

Over Christmas, like half of the country it seemed, we went to Lakeside shopping. On the way back I looked at the milometer in the car and thought I would see how far it was home in relation to the marathon. Door to door, from Lakeside to home in Leigh was only 22 miles, I have got to run further than that!

Now every journey I go on I work out how far it is in marathons and it is very depressing. Home to Braintree = 1 marathon, work to Shoebury = half a marathon, home to Southend = a fifth of a marathon, the list goes on and the distance doesn’t get any shorter. It is happening though and I will have just turned 44 on the 23rd April when the London marathon is taking place.

I reckon I have got one marathon in me, London has got to be the best in the world so I am going to do it, do it properly and pull my finger out. I have printed out my 16 week training schedule which looks horrible and just have to knuckle down and get on with it.

What is plainly obvious is that there are no short cuts, it is just good old fashioned hard work. I have bought a new pair of trainers, got some new kit for Christmas and am ready to go. In other words I have all the gear but no idea.

So far I have been out 4 times, run 6 miles twice and done an 8 miler. Tomorrow is my first longer run when I will hopefully get to 10 miles. I prefer to run early in the morning and get it out of the way rather than worry about it all day and have to do it in the evening.

So, at 6.30am tomorrow morning, when you are quite rightly still tucked up in bed, I will be pounding the streets, trying to get some miles under my belt. All the time when I am out running I am thinking what is this going to feel like during the marathon. When I get to 4 miles it always crosses my mind that I will have to do that more than 6 more times to finish the marathon and it always make me feel a bit sick! The idea of doing 10 miles tomorrow and then doing it again and more, fills me with dread.

It is lovely though, going out for a run first thing in the morning can actually be very relaxing. There is nothing like a cold crisp morning when you set off in the pitch black and run along the seafront watching the sun come up. If only I could stop worrying about the M word. See I can’t even say it anymore! The good thing about the London race is that it seems extremely well organised and as a runner you don’t have to think about a lot.

A few days before the race I have to visit London Excel to pick up my number and timing chip. I am also given a colour starting gate from where I will start. Obviously on the day you can’t really drive to the start so I will get the train up and depending on what colour start I have will depend on which station I go to. I will be met from the station and escorted to the start and my kit bag will go on to a designated lorry to be transported to the finish.

During the race there are water stations every mile and Lucozade, energy gels and fruit all along the route.

I have previously done the Great North Run half marathon and the atmosphere was excellent with spectators all the way round and loads of bands playing at various points on the route. I understand that London is even bigger so I am hoping that the crowd give me a bit of a lift and a spring in my step when I inevitably hit the dreaded wall. At the end of the marathon there are designated meeting areas for the runners to meet up with friends and family and we will get the train home. I have already decided that I am going to splash out on a taxi up the hill from Leigh station rather than walking!

As I said, I am running for Brainwave which is a wonderful charity focusing on children’s development, for more information visit www.brainwave.org.uk and if you wanted to sponsor me I would be extremely grateful please visit www.justgiving.com and search for Robert Kahl. I will keep you posted periodically with progress and lets all hope that we don’t get any snow this winter!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Robert-Kahl