Positively tropical (let's hope it comes back soon)

Weeks to go: 5
Current weight: 15 stone 1 pound
Total lost so far: 15 pounds
...am I destined to never go below 15 stone?!

Typical: the target of 14 stone was looking all achievable up til about 4 weeks ago when I first attained this weight. Now, after a series of self-inflicted injuries and poor self-control near a well-stocked fridge, I appear to have plateaued out a bit. But bigger picture: I still intend to finish the London Marathon and raise plenty of cash for Leonard Cheshire Disability (www.lcdisability.org) so PLEASE SPONSOR ME at www.justgiving.com/stuyeomans.

However, good news is that my hip and shin are both not quite as painful after yesterday's run than they were previously. I reckon that's a green light to start making the run's little longer, if not more regular. Accepted wisdom (i.e. the regime in Marathon News magazine) says that the longest run you do in your build up is either 20 miles (gulp) or 3 hours 30 mins (double gulp), what ever is the shortest.

Good grief.

Well, seeing as this should be done in the next week or two, the delay in my training means this should probably fall during the week between 30th March and 5th April. Time to plan. It isn't wise try to cram in lots of run-time between now and then, but other exercise will always help to maintain my fitness. The run time is what will count: so fingers crossed.

In terms of the tropical - that refers to the blazing sun of Sunday morning's run. Whilst the first 5 minutes were pleasant and meant I wasn't cold to begin with, it did mean I was a bit overdressed for the subsequent 42 minutes. Cue sweat pouring into my eyes and squinting into the harsh glare. Not great and a great reminder to keep yourself at the right temperature for comfort during exercise. That and a hat or sunglasses to make life even easier. Only reason being is that if you're distracted in any way, or suffering any discomfort, it takes an incredible toll on your mental strength to finish such a ludicrous distance. And I'm all for making life that little bit easier.

So, next time should have me finding out exactly how I feel after, say, 90 minutes of running and will be a fair indicator of how I'll feel for the longer run the week after. Wish me luck and, if you haven't done so already... please sponsor me!!

Happy running. And by the way, it's now freezing cold and chucking it down with rain now. Predictible unpredictibility of the British weather.