Running (out of time)

Last week:

Tuesday - 11 km

Thursday - 11 km

Saturday - 21.5 km

Kampala Marathon is now only 4 weeks away. The half marathon I ran on Saturday evening left me with one big question:"Will I be able to run twice as far a month from now?". I thought a lot about that yesterday.

Reasons why I may not get ready:

• - 2½ months of training instead of the usual 4 months
• - not following a recognized training schedule
• - bilharzia up until a week ago
• - too much drinking and smoking

Reasons why I should be able to pull it off:

• - A week in the Rwenzoris is comparable to high altitude training and should boost my performance in the last two weeks of training and on race day
• - There still is a month to go. I can get in better shape between now and then.
• - Í have decided to concentrate on completing the run and not care about the time.

The bottom line is that time is running out. I could have and should have started training earlier. I should have followed a professional training schedule. I should have taken that bilharzia treatment long time ago - I knew it was coming. I could have and should have blah blah blah blah blah blah. All that doesn't really matter now. Lessons learned for next time. Now it is about Sunday the 5th December. I'm expecting it to get ugly. Surely this is going to be the hardest run I'll ever have done. Right now I'm pinning my hopes on some carefully planned training runs, a lot of determination and a week of altitude training. If you ask me, the odds are still good.

Ad finem.

Marathon Madsen