There's always a little niggle

81 days to go. That is how long until I put myself through the turmoil of the Brighton marathon once again, the knowing of what is come on April 10th makes me a tiny bit nervous. But when i look back on last year and how my training (or lack of it) went and how i managed to complete the 26.2 miles on a sweltering hot day last April, it gives me slightly more confidence going into this years race knowing that I will be preparing and training better.

This situation is quite similar to that of West Ham, after an awful season last year with poor signings and just managing to stay up with a measly 35 points, which would usually relegate most teams in other seasons. But come the summer come preparation for a new campaign, new manager, new proven international signings and a new board. This clean slate of optimism and good preparation would surely mean an improved campaign? Well looking at the league table now and the opinions of supporters around the country and they will tell you that West Ham have not improved and may well have possibly declined from 12 months ago. The laughing stock of the Premier League is only just about keeping some of its credibility with a possible Carling Cup final to come, I say possible as the amount of surprises this season anything could happen.

As I've started my training for my own challenge in the past couple of weeks I've started to feel a pain in both of my ankles as i start off on my runs, now i hope this is just a little odd pain that will go in the weeks to come. However as i increase my mileage over the coming months I hope I won't copy the West Ham blueprint and 'bring down the house from the inside'.


All smiles at the finish after 4 hours 27 minutes of pavement pounding.

You know what they say though; failure to prepare is preparing to fail. That cannot be said with any more truth when training for a marathon, makes you think where West Ham would be now if the slate hadn't have been cleaned prior to the season.