The kick up the backside that I needed

My year in running had got off to a pretty poor start which was down to a few months of lazy training.

Earlier this year I DNFd at the Thames Trot 50, which I followed with two slow half marathons. I described my efforts with labels like "a deluded rambler" and "an awful lot of work to do". Not good.

However, the backwards London Marathon this weekend was a welcome break from my usual shuffle-like running, and it seems like I might have struck a rich vein of form (well, for me anyway). I completed the backwards course in 4 hours 13 minutes, which for me would beat my marathon "PB" by about 45 minutes, and was about 15 minutes faster than my effort at the same run last year. Last year I think I got lost and missed off a 2 mile loop, so this year's time is especially surprising to me.

I started with a group of runners who left Big Ben at 4am and tried to keep up with them at a speed which was just a little slower than my half marathon pace. It felt like suicidal pace for me to start a marathon, but I just focused on staying with the group so that I wouldn't get lost. The group was made up of speedy club runners, ultra veterans (including James Adams), and everything in between.

The rest of the race was quite unremarkable; I just kept on running at the pace of those around me. Though a wave of dizziness overcame me while I was using a portaloo at the side of the road, I didn't feel particularly bad while running.

I reached the end (well, the start) feeling like I was in a videogame. Though I've often dreamt of running under 4 hours, running 4h13m still didn't quite seem real.

But later, I wondered why it shouldn't be real. My training hasn't been spectacular, but since Thames Trot in February, I have steadily gone from 20km weeks up to 40km weeks. Nothing spectacular, but it's an improvement - and it's consistent.

My poor performances earlier this year may have been a blessing in disguise - the kick up the backside that I didn't want, but needed.

Though my backwards marathon time surprised me, it shouldn't. Real training has real results, and in the next three weeks, I feel compelled to continue my good work.

That's because in three weeks, I'll toe the line at the North Downs Way 50.

Last year at the NDW50 I snuck in under the cutoff in 13hr 13min. This year, I'll be aiming for sub 12 hours.

Not a crazy target by any means, but for a shuffle-runner like me, sub-12 would feel positively weird.