Virgin london marathon

I have entered the ballot for the VLM, if the number sent me is a reflection of the numbers entering the ballot then I am going to have a hell of game just getting into the race my number is 179000+. Tonight's run was tough still have the 22+ miles at the weekend in my legs.

A warm glow

It's nice when people ask your opinion, even nicer when they seek you out for advice, Having run for a while now, I get asked how to do things, when to run, what to wear. I feel like a real expert not that I am but it does feel good. The training is going nicely, tonight's run in the rain felt comfortable, several short bursts with longer strides did not cause me too much grief and I am getting confident of a sub 2 hour half at Coventry and moving up to a full Marathon.

London Marathon

For years I have sat on the sofa watching the London marathon thinking it would be good to do that but secretly thinking i'll never get off me arse. Today I have run ten miles in the heat and better my previous best by over five minutes. Half way through my Coventry half training plan and it seems to be coming along nicely, today is one of those upbeat positive days. A big well done to the two guys from Facebook doing the Marathon, well done Ian and Matt.

discharged

Five weeks to my first half. Today I have been discharged from my physio, I have made very good progress. The plan appears to be working as I managed to run fast(ish) up a very steep hill twice and still finished a five miler. Five miles tomorrow and ten miles Sunday. I have decided that I am going to make the step to a full Marathon in November as long as Stafford half and one other half goes ok. The picturesque Rutland water is the venue.

I know I can do it

For a while now I have been losing weight following the Weight Watchers' plan. Recently it's been really succesful. I decided about two months ago that it wasn't enough just to lose weigh, I needed to work on my fitness level. At that time I could not run a hundred yards without being completely out of breathe. One evening I decided I needed to test myself so I got my kit on and jogged around the local lane, the princely distance of a mile. It about killed me. Two days later I tried again just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke: I succeded again. Within a week I could jog just under three miles, it felt like a really big achievement. I did this a couple of times and then progresseed it to four miles.Within another two weeks I managed six miles. The bug had really bitten .My wife whose previous running achievement was under a hundred yards began running and she too was up to three miles.
So into the running we even did it on holiday, until I got a bloody massive blister from me flip flops on the beach.