In a tribute to President Obama - Change we need!

Weeks to go: 10
Current weight: 15 stone 3 pounds
Total lost so far: 13 pounds
... yes, that's an increase. And no, I'm not happy with it.

Good grief, and the plateau of performance appears to have taken hold. My weight has decided to leap upwards this week, although two pounds could be attributed to the steak and champagne on Valentines Day (aren't I romantic?). So I think we'll let that go.

The little niggles and aches have, however, became more persistent despite small adaptations to training and all of which have now flared up after today's, albeit impressive, training run of 1 hour 45 minutes and 18.7km. Well, it's impressive for me. Martin Lel is hardly quaking in his racing flats.

So, with an excruciatingly painful hip, shin and foot (not all on the same leg mind you, I believe in spreading the wealth around my whole body), it might be time to redress the balance in my training. Reason being: I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, a runner (no sniggering at the back). So four sessions a week of running on concrete will take its toll. And it clearly has, so now I'm going to swap one of the shorter runs for a conditioning session where I work on the specific strength of my core and leg muscles to help support the weight when I run. Also, I'm planning to do a sprint and mobility session on the grass in exchange for interval training this week to lessen the impact on my already tired and aching joints.

The idea is that by next week I'll be exactly 15 stone and I can take the following 9 weeks before the marathon to whittle down my frame even further. Yep, I know this particular post is a bit dry, but it goes to show that pounding out the kilometres (226.8km so far) isn't all beer and skittles. Reassessment of both your own goals and how you achieve them need to be made if unexpected things crop up. Same is true anywhere, but at the moment, this only applies to my running as the Physiotherapy training seems to be going well!

Til next week, happy running-training-adaptation.