Sub 3h15

Bah - now of course I'm regretting not entering VLM.

Told you Ant!

Speedy good to see you're getting your next marathon sorted.

Easy to solve Ant, just pop out and run a sub 2.45 in the next couple of months and enter via a UK address. Sorted.  Or get one of those package holiday deals. I picked up a brochure in Munich for those and our very own purple Martin was pictured on the page for VLM. 

Ant.. re. the wet gear.. I'm ashamed of you for not entering a virtual wet t-shirt competition.  Simply don wet gear, run a few miles & folks will think you have just run through a downpour of the 'heavens opened' variety.  What's a pair of sore nipples between friends?

Minni, Speedy - I might just manage a 2:45 half...No, actually that was just a pang of regret - I may do a Spring and Autumn marathon in 2013 and come back triumphantly to VLM in 2014.

Wardi - Yes,why on Earth didn't I think of that? The only flaw is that where I go there are no "folks" to see me...anyway, did a cheek 5 miles home from work last night, so no (major) harm done.

Ant - At least it was only water.
Birch - I presume you're now awaiting a date for your op?
Speedy - at least you found some consolation in the post-race meal I think I've heard someone say nesh before I couldn't have told you what it means. You learn something new every day...
Minni - I often whinge about not having any proper hills to train on and worry about encountering them in races but I've never thought of it the other way round before. They're lovevly for walking and enjoying the view, but I'm not convinced about running up and down them! Good resistance training though.
SD - I'm sure the pain will be worth it.
Another wet and windy day here and a 3 mile recovery run done and dusted. I gratefully accepted these words of encouragement from a passing cyclist: "You must have a ****ing screw loose!"

I assumed it was a typo for nosh....

OOlg - sorry, I was bit slow there - that was a joke, wasn't it? It's a bit early in the morning for me

Me again. Does anyone else keep getting the annoying survey pop-up today? It keeps coming back even though I've done the survey just to try and get rid of it! I suppose I could just change my settings to block pop-ups...

Congratulations to Moof, KR and RJ, some very impressive times. Sub 70 mins is just a different sport really to what I'm dealing with.

Sorry that AR and Speedys marathons didnt go to plan, but still both ran very impressive times given unfavorable days and lots of positives to build on.

I have been a bit under the weather of late, and its getting me down. I felt a little snotty (for want of a better word) at times at the tail end of last week, but runs were fine- in fact quite pleased with a pretty easy 1.42 half inc 3M @ MP on Sunday, then Monday rest, Tuesdays 7 mile recovery the HR was elevated, but it was very windy too, so I don't know what can be attributed to that.

Then today I wake up feeling OK, check my RHR and it 10-15bpm up, I think a lot of that is probably white coat syndrom as I stress myself out while checking, but its very disappointing. I decided to miss todays 7M w/ 2@MP. But I dont know what to do.....

Yes, tks, Gul - I await the letter  . . .
"Nesh" - common adjective around here - eg "you nesh t**t" to anyone wearing leggings if temp above 0C ! 
Hills - no avoiding them here . . . . .

I was a bit nesh last night- hat and gloves as well as tights.

JD3 - probably worth taking a couple of days break or just do enough to keep ticking over. Are you tapering at the moment? Could be taper madness kicking in.
OOlg - hat, gloves and tights!!! That's proper nesh. I will confess to having dug out my gloves from the back of my running drawer this week, but the fluorescent leggings are not seeing the light of day (or the artificial light in my house) yet. Then again, it's probably a few degrees warmer down here.

Yes it was cold up here Gul, plus the chill factor off the sea.

First run in 12 days. I decided to be sensible and only ran 5 miles but at a too quick 7:44mm pace. All nice and comfortable. No pain whatsoever in the calf, but a slight niggle in my right groin. I have never had a niggle there before, but take it as a positive as I am stretching my right calf and trying to turn my leg out slightly as my foot rolls in, so also stretching the groin (if that makes sense).

I learnt the word Nesh when I moved to the Midlands. It's a handy word. Under normal circumstances it describes me to a T. 

Hey, hang on - isn't your "snap" the packed lunch you take to eat on the job? That's how D.H. Lawrence used it, I'm sure.

Be careful who you ask for a nosh uphere in N Wales also-ran - You might get something completely different than you bargained for. Nesh is the same as starved or perished ie unusually cold or really hungry. I am usually one or the other too speedy.

Did half an hour last night - am turning into one of those showy b@rst*rds