Today I can officially call myself a Marathon Runner!

Yesterday was such an amazing day, so much to take in, and I keep remembering little details all the time. I finished in 4:16, which I’m very pleased with.

I arrived early at the start to meet the RNID team for the photoshoot before heading into the red start area at Greenwich Park. 30 minutes before the start the heavens opened and I really began to regret my decision to run in just the charity vest. Shivering under the runner’s blanket I had bought with me, I was wet, cold and miserable.

Thankfully, just as the time approached to assemble along the start, the rain stopped and the crowds spirits began to lift.

Walking through the gate that I’d seen so many times on TV, there was a special feeling in the air. Starting in pool 6, it was only 10 minutes before I crossed the line and began to run. As expected, the start was pretty congested, but I managed a decent pace for the first mile, and by the second mile I had found my rhythm. Running through Greenwich, there were a large number of people outside their houses, and one memorable house had been made up to look like a pirate ship! People were playing music through PA systems, and there was a wonderful community spirit.

At the third mile the two start routes merged and we really got a sense of how big the London Marathon actually is. The sun had just begun to peek through the clouds and I actually managed to spot my Wife and family cheering me on from the far side of the road.

As we wound through Greenwich and past the Naval college we could see Canary Wharf off to our left, still shrouded in some mist – it seemed so far away.

Running past a support bus promoting the ‘Daily Sport’ “Newspaper” there were a couple of models in white T-Shirts throwing water-filled sponges at the runners. one runner ahead of me took the initiative and squeezed a sponge over the girls

Due to the fire in 2007, the Cutty Sark was still under wraps. This was a shame, as I imagine this would be a real focal point as opposed to the nondescript corner that it was. Hopefully runners in 2011 will see her in all her glory. Again, we could see Canary Wharf, only this time it was a lot closer.

The next couple of miles were fairly nondescript – I was running a constant pace and feeling pretty good.

Tower Bridge comes somewhat as a surprise. I knew it was coming up, as I was watching the distance markers, but didn’t really expect it to just appear as we turned right. A truly magical moment, and a great landmark for the halfway point. I savoured this moment.

Leaving tower bridge, I caught sight of a group of RNID supporters, and once again we could see Canary Wharf, this time it was depressingly far away again!

Passing under a tunnel at mile 15, a runner shouted a rallying cry of ‘Oggie! Oggie! Oggie!’ to which we all replied the traditional response of ‘Oi! Oi! Oi!’. The echo through the tunnnel was great, and as we were away from the crowds it lifted our spirits.

Finally, we arrived at Canary Wharf. This was where I hit ‘The Wall’. I missed my support group, and I was beginning to struggle.

Ask any runner what ‘The Wall’ is like, and you’ll get varying responses. For me, everything seemed to go dark and grey, as if a raincloud had closed in quite rapidly. I couldn’t hear the crowds, and I was only vaguely aware of their presence.

Thankfully, I had saved an energy gel and bottle of Lucozade sport for this moment. I dropped to a walk to ensure I took on all of the gel and drink. I began to run again, and the light seemed to brighten.

Leaving Canary Wharf was a great feeling – we had just 6 miles to go, and once again, the sun had begun to shine on us. My pace picked up again, but not to my first half times. I realised that I wouldn’t be able to come in under my dream time of 4 hours, so I concentrated on my target time of less than 4:30. I kept my pace constant at 10 minute miles, and concentrated on my posture and gait. I began to enjoy the race again. As we came down ‘The Highway’ we were running alongside the people that had just crossed tower bridge, including a man dressed as the ‘Angel of the North’ statue, and a group of ‘Fat Controllers’ carrying a model of ‘Thomas the Tank’ engine. The crowds began to increase in numbers and volume as we came through a tunnel (more ‘Oggies!’) and onto the Embankment.

The sun was really blazing now, and the heat was incredible, but I concentrated on my run and enjoying myself, waving to the crowds and savouring the last 3 miles.

Passing the Houses of Parliament ‘Big Ben’ chimed for 2:00 and a cheer went up from the runners.

As we approached Buckingham Palace and the end, we saw markers counting down the final Kilometre.

I waved at the Queen (who no doubt was watching out for me as well as her granddaughter) as I rounded the final corner and saw the finish ahead. 6 months of training, 300 training miles, 2 pairs of trainers and over 70,000 calories all came down to the last 365 yards.

As I crossed the line I was euphoric. Shattered, in a lot of pain and slightly nauseous, but incredibly proud and happy.

Running the London Marathon was the fulfilment of a long-held ambition, and I’d like to take a moment to simply say thank you. Thank you for reading my blog, thank you to my Wife and family for supporting me and listening to my running stories. Thank you to everyone who’s sponsored me and helped raise over £1,500 for RNID. Thank you to RNID for giving me this opportunity. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Yesterday was incredibly hectic, so I wasn’t able to post an update to this blog as I’d hoped.

We caught an early train down to London, found our hotel and went off to register for the race at the London Marathon Expo. Described as “The best free event in the running year”, it was in the Excel centre in London. I’ve never been to the Excel centre, and I’ve never ridden on the DLR, so this was a bit of an adventure. The event was fairly busy, but not packed. As we walked in, there were a large bank of registration desks for a range of running numbers, which meant that I didn’t have to queue, and processing was pretty efficient.

The next stop was to pick up my timing chip. This little piece of plastic uses RFID technology to track me around the course and is attached to the runner’s shoe. In practice, I’ve found them to be pretty accurate, at Silverstone my ‘official’ time was about 2 seconds quicker than my unofficial time that I had clocked with my stopwatch.

We then spent a little time in the exhibition itself. As you would expect, there were plenty of retail opportunities from the likes of Adidas and Lucozade, and I purchased a souvenir running jacket as well as a new running T shirt and shorts. My wife also bought me an official Virgin London Marathon mug in which I will enjoy a nice cuppa after the race

The other stands were a combination of promotions for other marathons, various sports enhancements products and a smattering of charities. My own charity, RNID, was not exhibiting but I will see them at the start tomorrow.

We spent about an hour in the exhibition, as we had to get to a theatre show on the evening so we didn’t see everything, but I did manage to snag a few goody bags

In the Official goody bag there were a number of leaflets, a couple of freebie products and tantalisingly, a can of London Pride beer with a guide to the pubs en route… do they want me to finish the marathon?!

The exhibition was pretty good, with lots to see and do (I signed the huge Adidas whiteboard for London 2012), and there was a real excitement in the air.

Today the plan is to take it easy. I’m going to take a dry run to the start to have a look around, before meeting up with my parents and brother for my ‘last supper’, followed by an early night. Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day!

I logged on to my fundraising page and found that I was now 75% of the way to my target, so it’s looking very good from that perspective too!

If you are reading this blog, and would like to track my progress around the course, there is a tracking website available. I don’t know how good it is, but you will hopefully be able to see my progress as I go round the course. It is at http://marathon.mhub3.net/?src=s_m_m_run-uk My running number is 45947.

Three days to go now, and today is my last day in work before the Marathon.

In retrospect, I should have taken today off and relaxed – tomorrow will be pretty hectic as we will be travelling down to London in the morning, checking in to the hotel, registering for the race, looking round the expo before heading to the theatre for the evening.

I did most of my packing last night – despite the weather reports promising 20 degree weather, I’m taking no chances and have prepared for anything except snow! Despite feeling pretty relaxed about the race, I’m not sleeping very well. Most of it is excitement, but I imagine a little bit of nervous energy is also at play.

Last night I had a fairly easy session at the gym, focusing on core work and stretching, with a little light cardio thrown in. Topping that all off with a relaxing swim.

Tonight, I’ve got a massage, which should hopefully loosen up the last of the tightness in my muscles. My legs don’t feel too bad, just a little tight as I stretch.

After that, I have the most important job – preparing my iPod shuffle playlist.

I love music, and have played an instrument since I was about 8 years old when my parents bought me my first keyboard. Music is a very important part of my life, and I find a good playlist really helps me enjoy my run more. I’m not sure whether I will have music on all the way around – in training I’ve found myself getting a bit sick of listening to music on my long runs. However, I’ve deliberately not listened to some of my favourite running tracks in the last couple of weeks so they will sound fresher at the weekend.

This is the first in a series of short posts counting down the days before the Marathon.

It seems hard to believe how long ago October seems when I think about it. In the same way that in October, the 25th April seemed a lifetime away.

In that time, I’ve come through quite a lot, both personally and in my running. I’ve set a personal best in a half marathon, run around the Silverstone Formula One Circuit, including a small section of the 2010 modified circuit. I’ve increased my average running pace from 10 minute miles to 8:30/Mi. I’ve gone through two pairs of trainers, run 400 training miles, burned over 70,000 calories in training and probably drunk 10 gallons of Lucozade Sport!

People have asked if I’m nervous, and my answer is that I’m more excited than anything. I’m anxious for my supporters, and anxious that I need to make sure I don’t forget anything. I did my final “Long” run on Sunday – 8 miles with a friend along the Wolverhampton Canal system, the weather was good, and I was feeling good. It was a really positive experience, which I think has added to my excitement.

It seems incredulous that I’ve put the word “Long” in inverted commas… 8 miles is a long way, the first time I ran 8 miles was the Great Midlands Fun Run in 2006. After that I remember finding it difficult to walk. Following Sunday’s run, I hardly felt I had done anything!

Despite my Wife very kindly taking the dog to the late night training session on her own last night, I didn’t start my packing as I’d planned so that starts tonight!

With just 12 days until the London Marathon, I’m now well into my taper.

I ran 7.5 miles yesterday with a friend who is returning from injury and I felt really good. The nice weather helped of course, and also catching up with my friend who I’d not seen for a while. No aches and pains today, which is great too!

The London Marathon has always attracted a large number of “Celebrity” runners – I use the term advisedly, and this year is no different.

It’s worth noting that with 13 days to go, it’s not set in stone that all of them will be running, but here are a selection of the famous (and not so famous) faces that will be starting the 30th London Marathon on the 25th April.

London Marathon regulars Gordon Ramsay and Nell McAndrew will be lining up again. The original Lara Croft Model, McAndrew was the first celebrity to cross the line in 2009 and her 2005 time was close to the elite runnners standard. Chef Ramsay will be hoping to improve on his 2009 time of 4:05 – I will be hoping he doesn’t, as he’s my target!

There are eleven entries from the world of motorsport, including former Formula One Team Owner and BBC F1 Pundit Eddie Jordan. A long-time supporter of Clic Sargeant, Jordan will be hoping to finish in 5:30. Also running are Rob Barff (Endurance Sportscar driver), Marino Franchitti (British GTO championship winner 2001) Oliver Gavin (British F3 champion, F1 test driver, Safety Car Driver), Stuart Hall (Formula Renault), Charlie Hollings (Sportscars) Johnny Mowlem (Sportscars), Andy Priaulx (3 times World Touring Car champion), Stuart Pringle (BRDC secretary), Guy Smith (2003 LeMans 24 Hour winner), Darren Turner (former F1 test driver for McLaren, won LeMans 24 hours two years in a row)

Aerial display team The Red Arrows will start the race in formation as they run for the RAF Wings Appeal.

Eastenders has an interesting collection, including three actors who were part of the same fictional family in the Soap: Jessie Wallace, who played Kat Slater; Michelle Ryan, who played Kat’s daughter Zoe and Ricky Groves, who plays Kat’s brother-in-law Garry. Sophie Thompson, who played Phil Mitchell’s love interest Stella Crawford is running for CINI.

Coronation Street is also represented by Craig Gazey (Graeme Proctor) and Conor Ryan (Len Windass).

There are numerous TV and radio presenters, including GMTV’s Lorraine Kelly and Ben Shephard, sports anchor Steve Rider, comedian Russell Howard, George Lamb and children’s TV favourites “Dick & Dom”.

Katie Price/Jordan will be running once again, hoping that she doesn’t suffer the ankle injury that left her limping across the line in 7:11 last year with ex-husband Peter Andre.

Finally, I’m sure the Queen will be watching out the windows of Buckingham Palace to see her granddaughter Princess Beatrice of York crossing the line.

Gordon Ramsay image by Dave Pullig on flickr Princess Beatrice of York photo by VinnieLDA on flickr Both photographs licenced under Creative Commons

Edit – since I posted this yesterday, Katie Price has announced that she is pulling out of the Marathon on Doctor’s orders. I’m not going to be cynical and suggest that it has anything to do with the “pregnancy” rumours, I’ll leave that for you to decide.

On the professional front, it looks like Sammy Wanjiru’s hopes of defending his win last year have been boosted as three-time winner Martin Lel has been forced to withdraw again.

This weekend saw the start of my taper. I had hoped to push to 20 miles on Saturday, and despite setting off quite comfortably, my knee started to ache around the third mile. At mile 7, I met a friend in Wolverhampton, who accompanied me for the next 6 miles. Having him there really helped take my mind of my knee, but when he left me, I was once again on my own, and once again my mind focused on my knee.

By the 15th Mile, I was really aching, not enjoying it at all, and my pace had dropped right off to 15 minute miles.

I met my Wife shortly after this, she had an energy drink waiting for me, and I took the decision to call it off after 15.5 miles.

There was no reason for me to keep pushing as I wasn’t enjoying it, and I was risking injury to my knee.

I put it down to not getting my diet right the night before (we had pizza!) and also I was still recovering from last week’s 20 miler.

I was pleased to have completed 15 miles however.

On Easter Monday I took part in my final race before the Marathon – a 10K along a disused railway track. I’ve run parts of this railway track on other training runs, and it’s a fairly flat course through some pleasant woodlands.

I managed to set my fastest time for 10K at 51:15, 37th place out of 99 recorded finishers for the 10K.

Maybe it was the race atmosphere or the fact that there were more people around, but I really enjoyed the run, and even stuck to my plan that if I was running OK, I would do the last 2km at less than 8:00/mi pace, which I managed.

So, overall 50/50 – one awful run, and one fantastic run

Now, where are those Easter Eggs?

Saturday saw my penultimate long run before my taper. 19 miles from Dudley to Wolverhampton, and it was perfect running weather. Sunny, with just a light cool breeze.

I had originally planned to run with some friends, but with everything else going on around my training, I wasn’t able to get myself organised enough, so I set off on my own, arranging to meet my wife at the 14 mile mark with an energy drink.

The first 7 miles into Wolverhampton City Centre were pretty good, I maintained a pace between 9:06 and 8:45/Mi which is what I would hope for in the Marathon. I tried to slow down for the second 7, but I was really in a good rhythm as I climbed through Tettenhall and down to Wrightwick. A mile along the canal provided a welcome change of scenery, but I was starting to feel it.

As I came off the canal at Compton, I climbed up towards Finchfield, where thanks to an old lady, I ended up taking a wrong turn. Thankfully I had taken my iPhone with me, so I stopped to work out where I was. Running late to make my rendezvous, and not 100% convinced I was heading the right way, my mind started to wander. I got annoyed with the music I was listening to, and so for the first time, I ran without my iPod on. The next two miles were very hard, but the sight of my wife with a bottle of Lucozade was wonderful!

A short break to drink, and I was climbing again, this time back to Sedgley. I can remember when I first trained for the Great Midlands Fun Run in 2006, and I ran along this stretch of road. In the car, it feels like an insignificant slight incline. On foot, it is a killer; a long, winding hill that you cannot see the brow of. Again, the mind starts to go, so I put my iPod back on and thought of Eddie Izzard running around the country which spurred me up the hill.

The best part about getting to the top of a hill, is that you start to run down the other side. I was able to pick my pace up again and ran my 19th mile under 9 minutes again, a pace I’d not hit since leaving Wolverhampton.

Arrived home feeling shattered, but to the smell of Tuna Pasta Bake.

19.3 miles is once again, further than I have ever run before and like my 15 miler, it was the hardest run I’ve ever done. I’d deliberately chosen to run this way as there were fewer hills than last week, but still there were three big climbs. Afterwards I had mixed feelings. For the first time I realised that I could actually do 26.2 miles, but after 3 hours of running, I would still have another hour to go next month.

I took Sunday off to rest (and watch a thrilling Australian Grand Prix), but today I had my lunchtime recovery run. My legs ached from the moment I set off, but I was able to maintain a 9:06/Mi average pace. A lot slower than my personal best over this route, but today was simply about getting my legs moving again. I’ve got quite a busy week, but I’m hoping to do a short (3 mile) fast-paced run tomorrow, and maybe take in a Spin Class on Wednesday. There’s a group run on Good Friday that I might attend, although Easter Saturday will see my final Long Endurance Run, where I will be aiming for 20+ miles so I don’t want to hamper that.

I’m a bit late posting this as preparations are in full swing for my quiz night fundraiser on Thursday.

Saturday I ran 6 miles with a friend before heading off to take part in a Body Combat class in aid of Sport Relief and I had intended to get up early to go for a run, spin class and a run back. Saturday must have taken more out of me than I imagined as I overslept on the morning and didn’t leave enough time to get to the class.

Unperturbed by this, I decided to have an extra hour in bed!

Sunday afternoon was glorious weather for running; the sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot. I planned out my 15 mile run, which even before I started looked very intimidating. I had planned to run to Halesowen for some time after I found out how far it was from Dudley when driving there for my earlier run so this was a perfect opportunity.

Stocking up with an energy gel and water bottle (I hate running carrying a bottle, but I knew I would need to drink during this run) I set out on what would be the longest and hardest run of my life.

The first four miles were pretty familiar, as I’ve run to Netherton a few times – it’s a village that holds a lot of memories for me as my grandmother used to live there, but instead of cutting back to Brierley Hill, I pressed on towards Old Hill. I used to frequent a pub just on the Old Hill and Halesowen border, and passing it, I really fancied popping in for a pint, but I pressed on towards Mucklow Hill.

I’ve mentioned Mucklow Hill before. It’s a 350 ft climb over about a mile, with no respite in between. The slog up the hill is demoralising as people sit comfortable in their cars speeding up the hill while you pant and ache your way to the top. Turning left at the roundabout at the top of the hill is a huge relief as it’s now downhill for a while to the small town of Blackheath.

I climbed the hill out of Blackheath and took in my energy gel while enjoying the view, which looks like it will soon be destroyed by another development. Pressing on to Rowley Village I ran through what a treadmill would term “Rolling Hills”. I was running strong as I approached Dudley, passing the site where a local artist once erected a model of the Silver Surfer (sadly destroyed by vandals).

Heading through Dudley town I really began to feel short of energy. Pushing on became harder and for the first time I really felt like stopping.

From 14-15 miles, I really struggled mentally. I suppose there was part of me doubting that I could run further than a half marathon, even though I knew I could do it. The hills had sapped my energy, but there was still the long climb up “The Broadway”. Only the thought that this was the last hill kept me moving forward. At the top, I could look forward to a nice downhill run to the finish.

Happy that I completed the course and with a respectable average of 9:37 a mile, I really felt shattered by the end. The “broken” feeling I didn’t have after Silverstone was definitely present this time.

Having said that, a soak in the bath later, I was feeling fairly fresh, and safe in the knowledge that next month I won’t have to take on such punishing hills.

I need to plan this weekend’s run: 18-20 miles, however, I’m sure I won’t have to tackle hills as severe as Sunday.

Although the run was very hard work, I did enjoy the route, and I may run it again before my marathon training is done.

While the Formula One cars were whizzing round the Sakhir track in Bahrain yesterday, I joined over 7,000 runners at the home of the British Formula One Grand Prix on the Silverstone track and set a new Personal Best over the Half Marathon distance.

A race start time of 12:00 meant that there was plenty of time to comfortably get to the circuit and visit the Lucozade stand for some freebies before venturing through the red balloon entrance for runners aiming for under 2 hours. Having been too conservative in the past, starting with much slower runners and subsequently getting frustrated with the crowd I decided on an aggressive strategy for the start and lined up at the pace board that said 1:30-1:45. at about 11:45, the crowd began to move forward to the 1 hour board so I decided to stick with the crowd. After all, I knew I could always start quicker and slow down once we were further out on the circuit.

2 minutes after the start, I was across the start line – a huge difference to my last half marathon at Birmingham, where it was a good 20 minutes.

As a Formula One fan, I have a lot of memories of Silverstone, having attended the British Grand Prix 8 times so far, and I’ll be back in July this year. I had a stupid grin on my face as we rounded turn 1: Copse, as I looked over to where I was stood in 1995 remembering Damon Hill exiting the pits right on the tail of Michael Schumacher. The run to the Becketts and Maggots complex was much shorter than I thought, and shorter than it looks on TV and soon we were rounding Chapel curve onto the Hangar Straight – Silverstone’s longest straight. As we approached the point where Nigel Mansell famously tricked his rival Nelson Piquet into moving right while he took the racing line to the left, we passed the first mile marker.

Stowe corner was next – in 1999, Michael Schumacher left the track at this right-hander and broke his leg, forcing him out for much of the season and then we were into the short straight named “Vale”. This year, we will be sat in the grandstand here, and I was evaluating what the view will be like before turning into Club Corner.

Club corner is a long right hand bend that leads on to the “Farm” straight ending in the Abbey chicane. Abbey is a hard braking zone and one of the prime overtaking spots for a Formula One car. I was pleased to still be overtaking people myself at this point.

This year, the Formula One circuit is changing, so there is a lot of building work going on here as the cars will be turning right instead of the left turn we took on the “classic” F1 circuit under the bridge and into the aptly named “Bridge corner. From here there is a slight climb into “Priory” where I had the privilege of spending the 2008 qualifying session in the Vodafone hospitality suite here. This was also where Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher collided in the 1995 race.

The left turn into the “Luffield” complex where we sat for the 2009 British Grand Prix and then right into the sweeping Woodcote corner.

Here we were taken down the pitlane and in a wonderful piece of symbolism, had our first refuelling/water station. I took on a couple of sips of water, but was still feeling good and running well after completing the 3 mile circuit so I didn’t need any more.

The next part was to get a lot harder.

The course turned to the infield area of the track, taking in part of the “international” circuit that is used for smaller events, and past the smaller pits complex (which I believe is to be replaced in 2011 with a new complex for the F1 pits). Twisting round the infield and up one of the runways that remain as a legacy of Silverstone’s WW2 airfield we also had the opportunity to run on a new section of track that will form part of the MotoGP circuit and the 2010 Formula One circuit. Named “Arrowhead” in the press releases – although this may not be the final name for the corner, it is a wide left-hand hairpin corner, which is hoped to encourage overtaking in F1 – time will tell, but it was a nice change to be running on the smooth tarmac after the rough runway section.

Another detour to have our official photograph taken at about half way, and we were turned back and over the bridge.

After such a long time on a relatively flat course, the climb up the bridge was harder than it should have been as we were taken to the external service roads for an anticlockwise route back up to the north end of the circuit. It was about mile 9 when my foot really started hurting. Taking on my first Lucozade drink, I slowed to a walk to ensure I drank the whole bottle. The pain in my foot eased a little and I carried back on to a run.

We rejoined the F1 circuit just after Woodcote corner and followed the circuit backwards. One runner came sprinting up behind us with a rallying cry of “Oggie! Oggie! Oggie!”. I’m not sure how many people responded with me with the “Oi! Oi! Oi!” cry, but it was the perfect thing to spur me on to the final lap.

From this direction, and at this late stage in the run, the slight incline from Club up to Copse felt very tiring. Along the hanger straight, there were several runners taking the time to stretch their tired legs. My legs were aching, but I was able to push a little. Rounding Maggots the finish line was in sight.

I crossed the finishing line quite strongly, and although my foot was hurting again, my legs were pretty strong. I didn’t feel I could run the route again, but I did feel as though I could run further. A fellow runner commented as we stretched on the pit wall that no matter how long the race is, the last mile is always the hardest – I heartily agree with him!

I felt very good after finishing, I was tired, but not as broken as I felt after the Birmingham half marathon. I’m sure the great weather, and the nostalgia helped me, but I was still running well at the end, which gave me a positive feeling about next month’s marathon.

Much of what I’ve written above makes it sound like a sightseeing trip, but I was running hard too! A fantastic pace for me meant that I finished with a new personal best for a half marathon, my time being 1:50.25, 10 minutes faster than Wolverhampton, and 15 faster than Birmingham! Granted, in that time, the F1 cars would have completed some 60 laps of that circuit, but I really enjoyed the race.

I easily finished in the first half of the field, placing 1457 out of 5676 recorded finishers (finishers with a time over 4 hours are not listed on the website).

As for my starting position, it proved to be spot on, as I was finishing with the same crowd that I started with. As the race unfolded, I passed some of them, and they passed me, but overall I’d picked my starting position perfectly.

I still need to do a couple of longer runs before the 25th April, but this is likely to be my last long race before the Marathon and I’m glad I enjoyed it so much.

My Result & Split times

Map of the route

Official Site

I’m not sure of the wisdom of running a personal best on the last proper training run before a half marathon, but I just did one.

For the first time, my average pace dropped below the 8 minute mile mark – I’m really pleased with that, especially as I want to get my marathon pace below 9 minutes per mile.

The pace was comfortable, and I think it has helped having a couple of rest days before doing a spin class and some swimming last night. Spin was “interesting”. There was a replacement instructor, who I didn’t like from the outset, as the class went on I got to like her even less… she kept getting off her bike to walk around the class for a start. At one point, she even grabbed my resistance lever and added more resistance, while I was cycling. This is a big NO in exercise terms – although I was uninjured when I started the class, she could have caused an injury as I might not have been able to push the extra weight. Additionally, I wasn’t on my absolute maximum resistance, as I had the half marathon and todays run to do. She wasn’t to know that, and could have caused me to pull a muscle jeopardising my running at the weekend.

Having said that, she had some great music, and I was working pretty hard. As a result, I had a great workout.

Back to today’s run – I’m not sure, but I think I can credit the extra speed to a new CD my friend has lent me: the Ministry of Sound Running Trax. I’m not one for hardcore dance music, but this CD is very good to exercise to.

I’ve finally got round to uploading my running data into RunningAhead and you can access it by the links on the right hand side of the page. I’m also slightly reassured that last week I managed to get in 27 miles, my longest running week. Slightly less than my Higdon plan advises, but I’m pleased that the distance is starting to build.

Well, no more heavy training until Sunday when I run at Silverstone motor racing circuit. On mother’s day. Also the opening day of the Formula One season in Bahrain… these things really do come in threes.