6 weeks today...

In spite of running only three times in the past month, I am confident of achieving a personal best at the imminent Richmond half. Call it denial (or dementia) but I think if I spend the next six weeks immersed in fitness, I can beat my previous PB - and maybe even come in under two hours. Bulls horns were grasped yesterday when I not only did the parkrun 5k, but also booked in for a power pump exercise class. I need to get very strong, very quickly and a few tricep dips while the kettle boils is no longer enough. I'd hoped a recent trip to Crete would kick start the regime, but all it kick started was an all-inclusive binge-fest. On the plus side, I am carbo-loaded up for the next year.

(Stats: 3.1 miles; 29.09; 9.24 minute/mile - which would translate into a half-marathon time of approximately 122 minutes (which would be a PB?! Perhaps I've done my sums wrong.))

(Pic: Not running in Agia Pelagia.)

Looking forward to it

I have now transcended fear and entered a state of zen-like acceptance. Let's hope this lasts till Sunday.

Sticking to the plan

So, end of my first week of proper training for the marathon. Thought it might be useful to review what my schedule (courtesy of Women's Running magazine) says I should have been doing compared with what I actually achieved.

Monday: Core conditioning class, yoga or Pilates - I did a couple of planks in my bedroom.

Tuesday: Recovery run 30 minutes - Ran for 40 minutes at good steady pace.

Wednesday: Threshold run 2 x 10 mins effort with 2 mins recovery jog between efforts - Ran up and down my street quite fast a couple of times.

Thursday: 30 mins cross training or 30 mins recovery run + core conditioning - Did another couple of planks.

Friday: Rest - Did a 40-minute run, mainly steady, bit of sprinting.

Saturday: 4 x 5 mins continuous hill repetitions. 2 min jog recovery - Read paper, drank tea, watched telly.

Sunday: Long run 90 mins relaxed pace - Ran for 15 minutes, stopped at leisure centre to add name to waiting list for Power Pump (after being thwarted yesterday, I thought I'd try again). Then ran for another 56.51 minutes: up and down Primrose Hill, around Regent's Park and back to said leisure centre where I had as much success today as I did yesterday when it came to getting into the exercise class. Walked home thwarted again.

So, you see I've had a brilliant week and completely stuck to the marathon training schedule (if you squint your mind). It's this kind of dogged determination that is sure to see me fly round Brighton in April!

(Today's stats (for the main run): 6.1 miles; 56.51 minutes; 9.19 minute/mile - it appears I'm a lot quicker when running round Regent's Park. And I saw three giraffes.)

The long run on a Monday

I've just run 8 miles. If I can always do my marathon training 'long run' on a Monday that should set me up for the rest of the week. I appreciate this plan is work permitting, but when I do have the time I think it's an excellent strategy. Especially if all the long runs go as well as today's.

After thinking about it for a mere three weeks, I ran down to Regent's Park. Even on the greyest of days it's a lovely place to run. Lots of flora and fauna, including two reindeers, two zebras and a giraffe having his breakfast. The occupants of London Zoo had best get used to my red face because they will be seeing a lot of it.

I also (almost) take back all the bad things I've said about Nike+. I gave it a third chance today. Preparation turned out to be key. First I checked that the 'Pause Workout' buttons were switched off, then I set the screen to 'Landscape' so it would be easier to read mid-run, then I removed 'Learn French the Easy Way' from my playlists. 'Good news grammar' would not be interrupting my running flow again. 30 minutes of fannying around later and I was ready to leave. But the fannying had paid off. Apart from when the GPS signal was lost and the encouraging voiceover started slurring, the Nike+ worked perfectly. Well, I say perfectly. I'm not entirely sure all of the statistics are accurate. I can well believe that, at my slowest, I was doing a 14'39" mile. But apparently, at my fastest, I was doing a mile in 6'02". Even downhill that seems rather fast. Hey ho, maybe I should be aiming for a sub-two-hour marathon after all?

(Stats: 8.89 miles; 1 hour 32 minutes 10 seconds; 10.22 minute/mile.)

(I downloaded The Very Best of the Chairmen of the Board for today's run. It's very good.)

My leg is a moot point

My race number has arrived. And my leg is feeling a bit better. It's all go! Except I had to work late so missed running club anyway. Unfortunately, I've spent most of the past three weeks squashed in an office chair. If the half on Sunday involves staring myopically at a computer screen, I'll definitely win.

In the absence of any actual running, I've decided visualization will have to suffice. I'm picturing myself racing confidently along the south Devon coast, enjoying the sea air and crossing the line in 1 hr 30. I may as well aim high. I'm also picturing a lovely hot dog. Not for Sunday. Just generally. I'm hungry.

Tibialis posterior update

My injured leg is absolutely fine. If I don't use it. None of which bodes well for Sunday's half. However, I'm carb-loading regardless. Why waste a good excuse to eat pasta and garlic bread and risotto every night?! This evening, on top of my Italian fiesta, I also poked down a small bucket of spinach. If it's good enough for Popeye... Seriously, my body needs all the help it can get. If that means eating fruit and veg in quantities usually only seen in zoos, then so be it. PMA!

One week to go

So, what was a small nagging pain in my left calf has developed into a huge nagging pain.

Weirdly, it didn't feel too bad on Thursday, the day after the run, but I think the mistake I made was wearing flip flops in the rain on Friday.

I say rain. It was torrential. Complete with thunder and lightning and floods on the streets of Soho. (Okay, so maybe it wasn't the apocalypse, but compared with the arid months of April and May, it was very wet.)

The thing with flip flops is they're hard work to keep on your feet anyway. Add in a few inches of water and they're wriggling about like a couple of flounders. I think struggling to ensure they weren't washed away put a lot of pressure on my already slightly sore lower limbs and I fear it was this that did the damage. (I should add it was lovely and sunny when I left for work and I was optimistic it would remain so. It didn't.)

By Friday evening, I was in real pain and had a distinct limp. When I got home and assumed a yogic position to inspect the area (behind my ankle and up the back of my calf) I found it tender and swollen.

I immediately texted my physio (i.e. my friend) a detailed outline of the problem and she identified the sore area as the tibialis posterior and feared it might be tendonitis. Obviously, I googled this and my symptoms do seem to correlate. However, my left sock was rubbing under my forefoot like a b*stard on Wednesday so I was running a little awkwardly. I'm hoping that it's this that has caused the injury and that it's a temporary state of affairs.

In line with recommended expert advice (from my friend) I have rested all weekend, dosed myself up with anti-inflammatories and been liberally applying an ice-pack to the area. And I'm relieved to report it's already improving. Just as well as this time next week I will be mid-half-marathon. In fact, If things are going according to plan I should only have half an hour to go.

Right now, there's a question mark over the time thing. But I'm optimistic my leg will be well enough to run. Because, of course, my optimism on the weather-front worked out brilliantly.

(Pic: My sore leg with biro graffiti highlighting the affected area.)