Another one bites the dust (but not the biggie)

Weeks to go: 11
Current weight: Haven't the foggiest, not near my scales again this Sunday!
Total lost so far: 15 pounds (judging by last week's measurements)
... hmm, don't screw with the programme

Yep, sad to say that I missed two out of four of my runs last week. The first was wholly explicable as the weather was terrible and I'm not a member of a gym either, so I couldn't make it up. The second was, I'm almost ashamed to admit was half down to a belated Burns Night celebration and half down to a miscalculation of when the England v Italy rugby was kicking off.

However, yesterday saw me run the furthest I'd ever managed in one go with a pavement-pounding 21.5km in 2 hours dead. Perfect conditions running from Brighton seafront to Shoreham and back and in less time than I ran the Eastbourne Half Marathon last year. Hence I'm fairly confident that I'll beat last year's time of 2 hours 6 minutes. Three weeks to find out, so watch this space.

Okay, now for the admission: Saturday's lack of training was also possibly due to some pain I've been having in my legs which I found out is due to the type of training and also the fact that I'm quite the lump. 'Medial tibial pain' can affect soldiers and athletes when they increase their training intensities in much the same way I've done. And running on unforgiving surfaces like pavement only serves to exacerbate the problem. This isn't 'shin splints' as you might think as it's in a different part of the leg, but suffice to say I've been using plenty of ice after running, massage and stretching all my muscles out to make sure that there's no unwarranted tension to make things even worse.

Lesson for us all there, I think. Always worth paying attention to the little niggles and aches if they remain for longer than a few days after a run. I know I said that sticking to a programme was best, but it might just be the right thing to miss the odd session if a pain or strain takes a little longer to disappear. In the long run (pun almost certainly intended) it'll mean more consistent training over a longer period and ultimately the difference between a good race and poorly executed one.

Happy running, relaxing and injury management. Weight report next time. Promise.