Galloping ahead

I couldn’t exactly say my preparation for running the London Marathon has been smooth, or glitch-free, writes Will Davies
For starters, I embarked on this fool’s mission with a hamstring in spasm, muscles lying dormant and a gut too large for someone my age.
Even with a month to go, the hamstring is determined to sabotage my quest, like a little red devil sitting on my shoulder, repeatedly whispering ‘fail, fail’ in my ear.
For that matter, so have my ankles, which have flared up, making running on hard surfaces agonising.
That is, until Saturday morning.
A trip to the countryside and the sight of soft rolling hills provided no better an opportunity to resurrect my beleaguered training regime.
And what a joy.
Although the heavens opened the moment I stepped outside, my soggy t-shirt chaffing my nipples raw, I cruised the ten-mile route like a thoroughbred champion storming up the nearby hill at Cheltenham.
Although I am lacking long-distance practice, confidence is restored, and in the nick of time.