Nice easy run out to Barnes just as it was getting dark. I had cold arms for the whole run and wished I'd worn a long sleeve.

Felt relaxed and was cruising along. My only complaint was a bit of left hip flexor and left hip stiffness.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:30(9:30/m) 129/148bpm 83cal 6.32/14.67mph
2) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 138/142bpm 88cal 6.49/7.18mph
3) 1m - 9:06(9:06/m) 142/147bpm 89cal 6.59/7.62mph
4) 1m - 9:06(9:06/m) 148/151bpm 93cal 6.59/7.74mph
5) 1m - 9:34(9:34/m) 150/157bpm 100cal 6.28/7.28mph
6) 1m - 9:02(9:02/m) 149/152bpm 88cal 6.64/7.03mph
7) 1m - 8:58(8:58/m) 150/155bpm 86cal 6.69/6.99mph
8) 1m - 9:13(9:13/m) 148/152bpm 82cal 6.51/6.97mph
9) 1m - 9:21(9:21/m) 148/152bpm 81cal 6.42/6.82mph
10) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 152/162bpm 85cal 6.79/7.49mph
11) 0m - 1(5:45/m) 157/157bpm 10.44/7.12mph

Pilates with Mr Mo (352/8). Good session. He's a good teacher.

In Deal and ran out to the Zetland Arms and then back to Sandown Castle. Felt really empty for the first half of this run and was struggling this morning. Then I bizarrely found some life after 4m and finished feeling pretty good.

Weird.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:50(9:50/m) 133/147bpm 92cal 6.1/6.45mph
2) 1m - 9:40(9:40/m) 146/150bpm 101cal 6.21/6.37mph
3) 1m - 9:46(9:46/m) 149/153bpm 104cal 6.14/6.51mph
4) 1m - 9:33(9:33/m) 152/156bpm 103cal 6.28/6.43mph
5) 1m - 9:16(9:16/m) 154/157bpm 100cal 6.47/6.66mph
6) 1m - 9:01(9:01/m) 156/159bpm 101cal 6.65/6.89mph
7) 1m - 8:55(8:55/m) 156/158bpm 98cal 6.73/6.87mph
8) 1m - 8:34(8:34/m) 161/166bpm 101cal 7/7.41mph
9) 0m - 1(4:28/m) 166/166bpm 13.43/7.41mph

Very relaxed and easy round around Betteshanger Park. Felt pretty good and the body was confused, thinking it was marathon day.

Felt as if I could have continued running laps all afternoon and was ticking along at sub-4 pace.

Ran up a short sharp hill to the left of the gate on my second lap and felt my left glute go ping. That was a bit uncomfortable for the rest of the run.

Decent run though and I felt fit and rested.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:18(9:18/m) 130/140bpm 82cal 6.45/6.91mph
2) 1m - 9:07(9:07/m) 137/150bpm 83cal 6.58/7.08mph
3) 1m - 9:02(9:02/m) 143/156bpm 88cal 6.65/6.87mph
4) 1m - 8:56(8:56/m) 147/159bpm 90cal 6.72/7.01mph
5) 1m - 8:53(8:53/m) 148/157bpm 88cal 6.76/6.89mph
6) 1m - 8:58(8:58/m) 150/161bpm 89cal 6.69/6.95mph
7) 1m - 8:48(8:48/m) 150/159bpm 84cal 6.82/7.06mph
8) 1m - 8:54(8:54/m) 150/162bpm 83cal 6.74/7.06mph
9) 1m - 9:06(9:06/m) 153/161bpm 89cal 6.59/7.12mph
10) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 151/160bpm 80cal 6.8/7.14mph
11) 1m - 8:46(8:46/m) 156/163bpm 89cal 6.84/7.1mph
12) 1m - 8:34(8:34/m) 160/167bpm 94cal 7/7.58mph
13) 0m - 1(4:34/m) 160/160bpm 13.15/7.56mph

Pilates with Luke (353/8). Easy session.

Rubbish run. Hit the road on a cold morning just after 5.30am and felt crap.

Glutes were really tight and my pinged glute from Sunday was aching.

Generally felt really rubbish this morning.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 10:08(10:08/m) 129/139bpm 89cal 5.92/7.14mph
2) 1m - 9:36(9:36/m) 141/148bpm 95cal 6.25/7.81mph
3) 1m - 9:34(9:34/m) 144/152bpm 94cal 6.27/9.29mph
4) 1m - 9:40(9:40/m) 143/147bpm 89cal 6.21/7.16mph
5) 1m - 9:31(9:31/m) 142/147bpm 81cal 6.31/6.87mph
6) 1m - 9:10(9:10/m) 148/154bpm 88cal 6.55/7.58mph
7) 0m - 2(6:06/m) 154/154bpm 9.83/6.99mph

Phoenix Timelord on the Thames: 03:42:54 Pos: 7/65

This was a strong performance, with me giving this a go from the first mile today.

Once I'd got to about 5 miles I started racing and never really looked back.

Ran the first half in 1:52 and the second in 1:50.

Had turned up wanting to run 3:46 and realised that I was on for a sub 3:45, but was surprised to come in at 3:42.

The weather was cold (not much above zero when we started), however I chose not to wear tights. I don't think this caused my groin problems late on, but I was certainly feeling sore on the last lap).

This was a good performance, but I never felt like I was really flowing. I always felt as if I was having to work a bit too hard and pushing it all the way. It wasn't like when I ran 3:42 at Hillingdon or 3:38 at Abingdon (both last month), where I was flowing along feeling as if everything was working. In other words, I don't think I was really in 3:42 shape today (probably more like 3:48 shape) but my ability to push through barriers is really starting to flourish.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 8:54(8:54/m) 145/157bpm 99cal 6.74/6.97mph
2) 1m - 8:47(8:47/m) 151/157bpm 103cal 6.83/7.74mph
3) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 151/154bpm 98cal 6.79/7.1mph
4) 1m - 8:48(8:48/m) 156/159bpm 101cal 6.81/7.53mph
5) 1m - 8:38(8:38/m) 155/159bpm 96cal 6.94/7.1mph
6) 1m - 8:35(8:35/m) 157/161bpm 97cal 6.99/8.25mph
7) 1m - 8:33(8:33/m) 159/162bpm 99cal 7.02/8.6mph
8) 1m - 8:23(8:23/m) 158/161bpm 93cal 7.16/7.43mph
9) 1m - 8:23(8:23/m) 158/161bpm 92cal 7.15/8.83mph
10) 1m - 8:26(8:26/m) 160/163bpm 95cal 7.12/7.53mph
11) 1m - 8:18(8:18/m) 160/163bpm 92cal 7.23/7.74mph
12) 1m - 8:14(8:14/m) 161/163bpm 90cal 7.28/8.91mph
13) 1m - 8:22(8:22/m) 161/164bpm 88cal 7.17/7.45mph
14) 1m - 8:25(8:25/m) 162/165bpm 89cal 7.13/8.06mph
15) 1m - 8:17(8:17/m) 162/164bpm 88cal 7.25/8.41mph
16) 1m - 8:22(8:22/m) 162/164bpm 87cal 7.17/8.41mph
17) 1m - 8:30(8:30/m) 163/165bpm 90cal 7.06/17.3mph
18) 1m - 8:14(8:14/m) 164/166bpm 87cal 7.29/9.35mph
19) 1m - 8:18(8:18/m) 164/167bpm 87cal 7.23/9.02mph
20) 1m - 8:44(8:44/m) 166/168bpm 96cal 6.87/7.47mph
21) 1m - 8:25(8:25/m) 166/168bpm 92cal 7.13/7.68mph
22) 1m - 8:20(8:20/m) 167/170bpm 94cal 7.2/8.68mph
23) 1m - 8:34(8:34/m) 167/169bpm 96cal 7/7.64mph
24) 1m - 8:28(8:28/m) 167/171bpm 93cal 7.09/8.12mph
25) 1m - 8:32(8:32/m) 168/170bpm 96cal 7.03/7.39mph
26) 1m - 8:24(8:24/m) 170/173bpm 98cal 7.14/7.47mph
27) 0.28m - 2:16(7:56/m) 174/176bpm 28cal 7.56/8.75mph

Stiff and a bit sore on this morning's run, which surprised me. I felt great yesterday.

I very nearly reduced this to 5 miles, but found a bit of life just before 4m.

Quite sore in the left side groin and left itb/quad/ham.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 126/139bpm 80cal 6.49/7.47mph
2) 1m - 9:23(9:23/m) 132/137bpm 84cal 6.39/6.74mph
3) 1m - 9:18(9:18/m) 139/148bpm 89cal 6.46/7.06mph
4) 1m - 9:19(9:19/m) 141/145bpm 87cal 6.44/6.89mph
5) 1m - 9:10(9:10/m) 143/145bpm 87cal 6.54/6.89mph
6) 1m - 9:10(9:10/m) 147/152bpm 92cal 6.54/7.35mph
7) 0m - 1(6:36/m) 148/148bpm 9.08/6.22mph

Pilates with Sophie (354/8). Went to the beginners' class because I'm as stiff as ever. Feeling a bit rough in the left hip and glute at the moment.

Very sore in the left hip and the glute's given up working.

So, I took it very easy and jogged all the way. The hip flexor (I think) was twinging every time I toed off.

Weather was pretty cold tonight. Enjoyed it.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:33(9:33/m) 125/136bpm 80cal 6.28/7.35mph
2) 1m - 9:10(9:10/m) 134/141bpm 83cal 6.55/7.68mph
3) 1m - 9:12(9:12/m) 142/151bpm 93cal 6.52/7.64mph
4) 1m - 9:03(9:03/m) 145/158bpm 92cal 6.63/6.95mph
5) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 147/154bpm 93cal 6.49/7.7mph
6) 1m - 9:01(9:01/m) 149/153bpm 90cal 6.65/8.33mph
7) 1m - 9:01(9:01/m) 151/162bpm 93cal 6.66/7.58mph
8) 1m - 8:42(8:42/m) 156/163bpm 97cal 6.9/7.6mph
9) 0m - 1(4:47/m) 155/155bpm 12.55/6.68mph

Pilates with Nicholas (355[8]). Went into this with a hip that is aching like feck. Came out of it feeling great!

Not great. My left glute and hip really fatigued after 1 mile. By 4 miles I thought I'd better call it a day.

Friday's race will require a mix of Nurofen, Volterol and adrenalin!

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:47(9:47/m) 128/137bpm 85cal 6.14/7.03mph
2) 1m - 9:28(9:28/m) 142/150bpm 98cal 6.34/6.91mph
3) 1m - 9:05(9:05/m) 146/154bpm 94cal 6.61/7.08mph
4) 1m - 9:08(9:08/m) 150/157bpm 100cal 6.57/7.18mph
5) 0m - 2(6:44/m) 156/156bpm 8.91/7.2mph

St Andrew's Marathon (Betteshanger Park trail route): 3:51:22 Pos =2/36

Turned up for this not in the greatest of shape. I had two problems: 1) my left glute is completely knackered and 2) I had stomach issues before the race verging on being constipated (pleasant).

So, I started out dead slow, but after the first lap (and having discarded my thermal top), I decided that my arse and hip were aching too much, so I might as well speed up and get the job over and done with.

This ended up being a really enjoyable run, which was made fun by catching Gary B at about 11 or 12 miles and then running the rest of the race together.

I was never really racing this, so to come home in 3:51 is pretty satisfying.

We made a gentlemen's agreement late on to share the honours of 2nd place today because we'd spent over two hours chatting away and it would have been rude to leave each other behind.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 143/160bpm 97cal 6.48/6.78mph
2) 1m - 9:04(9:04/m) 145/149bpm 98cal 6.61/6.72mph
3) 1m - 8:55(8:55/m) 148/153bpm 96cal 6.72/6.99mph
4) 1m - 9:35(9:35/m) 153/163bpm 107cal 6.26/7.37mph
5) 1m - 8:40(8:40/m) 155/159bpm 99cal 6.93/7.53mph
6) 1m - 8:43(8:43/m) 156/159bpm 99cal 6.88/7.28mph
7) 1m - 8:54(8:54/m) 156/166bpm 97cal 6.74/7.49mph
8) 1m - 8:40(8:40/m) 158/163bpm 99cal 6.92/7.14mph
9) 1m - 8:42(8:42/m) 157/160bpm 95cal 6.9/7.03mph
10) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 156/166bpm 90cal 6.8/7.85mph
11) 1m - 8:40(8:40/m) 158/163bpm 90cal 6.92/7.51mph
12) 1m - 8:40(8:40/m) 159/163bpm 92cal 6.92/7.12mph
13) 1m - 8:27(8:27/m) 159/163bpm 84cal 7.11/7.53mph
14) 1m - 9:13(9:13/m) 160/167bpm 90cal 6.51/8.7mph
15) 1m - 8:24(8:24/m) 162/166bpm 92cal 7.14/7.43mph
16) 1m - 8:31(8:31/m) 160/163bpm 84cal 7.05/7.56mph
17) 1m - 9:17(9:17/m) 159/168bpm 84cal 6.46/7.2mph
18) 1m - 8:37(8:37/m) 162/165bpm 90cal 6.97/7.43mph
19) 1m - 8:35(8:35/m) 162/164bpm 87cal 6.99/7.18mph
20) 1m - 9:11(9:11/m) 159/170bpm 78cal 6.53/7.41mph
21) 1m - 8:33(8:33/m) 165/168bpm 95cal 7.02/8.06mph
22) 1m - 8:32(8:32/m) 166/169bpm 97cal 7.03/7.2mph
23) 1m - 9:22(9:22/m) 166/172bpm 102cal 6.4/7.37mph
24) 1m - 8:41(8:41/m) 164/169bpm 87cal 6.91/7.37mph
25) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 166/170bpm 94cal 6.8/7.16mph
26) 1m - 8:26(8:26/m) 169/174bpm 98cal 7.11/8.89mph
27) 0.23m - 2:05(9:12/m) 177/180bpm 27cal 6.52/7.35mph

Very slow and easy jog along Deal seafront. Left glute was really aching before I set off and didn't really ease up at all on the run.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:59(9:59/m) 126/135bpm 84cal 6.01/6.18mph
2) 1m - 9:57(9:57/m) 134/137bpm 91cal 6.03/6.16mph
3) 1m - 9:48(9:48/m) 138/140bpm 90cal 6.13/6.53mph
4) 1m - 9:34(9:34/m) 139/143bpm 85cal 6.27/6.43mph
5) 1m - 9:05(9:05/m) 144/151bpm 86cal 6.6/6.8mph
6) 0m - 1(4:40/m) 147/147bpm 12.86/6.59mph

Pilates with Luke (356[8]). Glute and groin are sore.

Jim is over for a few days, so I dragged him out at 5.30am on a cold morning.

This was dead easy and I found myself having to slow down quite a bit in the second half.

The arse wasn't too bad today.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 10:02(10:02/m) 127/139bpm 90cal 5.98/6.62mph
2) 1m - 9:39(9:39/m) 140/151bpm 98cal 6.22/10.12mph
3) 1m - 9:25(9:25/m) 141/145bpm 92cal 6.37/7.89mph
4) 1m - 9:41(9:41/m) 143/152bpm 93cal 6.2/7.12mph
5) 1m - 9:30(9:30/m) 140/147bpm 82cal 6.32/6.72mph
6) 1m - 9:28(9:28/m) 142/150bpm 82cal 6.34/9.62mph
7) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 143/148bpm 78cal 6.49/7.51mph
8) 0.01m - 2(6:12/m) 148/148bpm 9.68/6.8mph

Not a good run at all. With Jim being over, I'm getting very little quality sleep at the moment.

So, having been woken up again last night and then up at 4am, I felt really lousy on this run. I felt as if I had flu. It was horrid.

Things weren't helped by the weather being very mild and then Jim giving up just before 4m.

I'm desperate for some sleep ahead of Saturday's race.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 9:36(9:36/m) 133/145bpm 91cal 6.25/7.26mph
2) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 148/154bpm 102cal 6.48/6.95mph
3) 1m - 9:15(9:15/m) 155/164bpm 106cal 6.49/10.33mph
4) 1m - 9:44(9:44/m) 154/159bpm 108cal 6.16/9.37mph
5) 1m - 9:13(9:13/m) 153/161bpm 96cal 6.51/12.65mph
6) 1m - 8:49(8:49/m) 161/167bpm 105cal 6.8/7.6mph
7) 0m - 1(5:23/m) 166/166bpm 11.16/6.97mph

Christmas Enigma: 03:52:33 Pos: xx/xx

Rubbish. Had a rough morning out here. I turned up having had little sleep and feeling well under par.

If I'm going to be positive about this, it illustrates how much I've improved as a marathon runner that I'm calling a 3:52 a disappointing run.

If I have a six speed gearbox, it took for ever to find third gear today and I never got as far as fifth.

Also, the left hip flexor was really sore in the last 6 miles. In fact the last 6 miles were a bit of a write-off today, but that's partly because I decided on purpose to secure a sub-4 in the first 20 miles and then ease off if I needed to.

I think I need a rest and I'm delighted to say that I've got two weeks until the next one, so I think a bit of a break is in order.

Split Summary
===
1) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 138/151bpm 87cal 6.79/7.16mph
2) 1m - 8:54(8:54/m) 148/152bpm 97cal 6.74/6.95mph
3) 1m - 8:50(8:50/m) 152/158bpm 98cal 6.79/7.41mph
4) 1m - 8:41(8:41/m) 153/157bpm 95cal 6.9/7.99mph
5) 1m - 8:52(8:52/m) 157/162bpm 100cal 6.77/7.91mph
6) 1m - 8:54(8:54/m) 157/160bpm 99cal 6.74/6.99mph
7) 1m - 8:37(8:37/m) 157/161bpm 95cal 6.97/7.6mph
8) 1m - 8:37(8:37/m) 156/162bpm 94cal 6.96/7.33mph
9) 1m - 8:46(8:46/m) 158/164bpm 96cal 6.85/7.18mph
10) 1m - 8:41(8:41/m) 159/162bpm 95cal 6.92/7.53mph
11) 1m - 8:31(8:31/m) 160/162bpm 92cal 7.04/7.78mph
12) 1m - 8:31(8:31/m) 161/166bpm 92cal 7.05/7.33mph
13) 1m - 8:41(8:41/m) 160/163bpm 88cal 6.92/7.35mph
14) 1m - 8:38(8:38/m) 163/166bpm 94cal 6.95/9.91mph
15) 1m - 8:36(8:36/m) 163/166bpm 93cal 6.98/7.24mph
16) 1m - 8:45(8:45/m) 164/167bpm 93cal 6.86/7.33mph
17) 1m - 8:47(8:47/m) 165/167bpm 95cal 6.83/7.08mph
18) 1m - 8:41(8:41/m) 165/167bpm 94cal 6.91/7.41mph
19) 1m - 8:52(8:52/m) 164/168bpm 91cal 6.77/7.12mph
20) 1m - 8:56(8:56/m) 164/169bpm 92cal 6.72/6.95mph
21) 1m - 9:02(9:02/m) 165/167bpm 95cal 6.64/7.35mph
22) 1m - 9:01(9:01/m) 166/169bpm 99cal 6.65/7.76mph
23) 1m - 9:05(9:05/m) 166/169bpm 97cal 6.6/6.8mph
24) 1m - 9:19(9:19/m) 165/168bpm 95cal 6.44/8.35mph
25) 1m - 9:25(9:25/m) 167/171bpm 103cal 6.38/6.93mph
26) 1m - 9:11(9:11/m) 167/169bpm 99cal 6.54/6.78mph
27) 0.32m - 2:53(9:07/m) 170/174bpm 32cal 6.58/6.78mph