50,000 steps?  I've estimated that 50,000 is the number of steps it'll take me to run 26.2 miles.  On Sunday 26 April @ about 9am - I'll be lining up alongside another 30,000 or so fellow runners (including Paula Radcliffe) to run the London Marathon.  It won't be my first time.  I ran it in 2004, as it was something I'd always wanted to do.  I only started running in the August of 2003, and 8 months later I was running the famous distance. 

Unfortunately, I picked up an injury in training and this affected me on the day - making the run more difficult and making it impossible for me to complete it in my target time.  As I crossed the line I 'knew' I'd do it again.  Fast-forward to now, and I now have a little over 3 months to prepare myself for the race.  I've always done sport and been fairly fit - but I've never been a good long-distance runner.  Over the past few years, I've done less and less exercise, especially during the first 9 months of 2008, when I basically did nothing.  Poker isn't really conducive to a good fitness regime.  As someone who works the usual office hours and then spends evening playing poker or doing whatever, it's difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6 o'clock in the morning to go running in the pouring rain.

I've been trying to get a place in the London Marathon again ever since 2004.  In fact, I didn't get a place in the 2004 marathon via a ballot place - I had to get a Golden Bond place where I promise to raise a minimum amount for a charity who then give me a guaranteed place.  I ran for the British Heart Foundation in 2004.  Fortunately, the way the organisers run the ballot for London is that if you don't get a place 5 years in a row, you're guaranteed a place on the 6th attempt.  So the 2009 marathon would be my sixth attempt - and therefore I knew I'd get a place.

My plan was to start running in the summer, build up slowly and then be in good shape to start my training on the run-up (pun intended) to the marathon.  The training programme for the actual marathon is usually over a 16-week period, but you need to have a decent platform already - in other words, I really wanted to be doing at least 25 miles a week come the start of the year.  I haven't been doing 25 miles a week.  So I've missed my first target.  The thing with long-distance running is that you can't go from nothing (or very little) to putting in 15-20 miles runs.  It's all about putting in the miles, and it's something I need to focus on doing. 

If that doesn't interest you, this might.  I'm running for the NSPCC. 

You can sponsor me with an online donation here: 
http://www.justgiving.com/daniel-phillips

It'd be much appreciated.