8 miles last night. Considering I didn't even get out the door till 8.15pm after long day at work, it was a really good run. Probably my best ever in fact, as at one point, I actually felt really high and buzzing and the feeling lasted for about twenty minutes.



Two minor problems - first of all, when I got home and took my shoes off, my left sock was soaked in blood. I didn't feel anything at all when I was running, but one of my toes has split open. LOVELY! The blood had even soaked through to the mesh of my shoe; amazed I didn't notice it at the time. Still, it doesn't hurt. It looked disgusting at the time but now it's all cleaned up I can hardly notice it. Also, my knees are still bad. I think I've got runner's knee. I've been doing a lot of research, and the symptons sound spot on - pain right inside the kneecap, worse when putting weight on it, and particularly bad when going down stairs.Whether it's mild or severe, I don't know. But tonight, I think I'm going to skip my 5 miler and just cross-train, stretch, do some weights and use the power plate instead. I don't want to make it worse, and have a 12 miler on Saturday to think about.

4 miles last night. I really REALLY didn't want to go; just wanted to go home and sleep. Don't know why I'm feeling so tired at the moment. Forced myself to go though (needed to do strength training and other stuff in the gym, so ran on the treadmill... zzzzzzz). I did the same kind of speed workout that Krzys showed me, to stop it from being too boring and got up to some pretty fast speeds by the end. Right on the very last fast burst I accidentally hit the emergency stop button and everything came to a complete halt. Bloody treadmills.... this is a much better use for them:



My knees are troubling me. I have a pain right behind the kneecap in both legs. It hurts when I put weight on them, ie bending, or when going up or down stairs. I think it sounds like runner's knee and I really hope it isn't. Am supposed to be doing 8 miles tonight. Should I go or not? I never know whether to try and get more miles 'in the bank' or to rest. I feel like I'm always resting though. I can rest when I'm dead, can I not? I think I will go. If it gets really bad, then I'll stop.

Am feeling quite positive about things today. After yesterday's 16 miler, I feel so much better today than I did after the 15 miler last weekend. I still feel stiff and sore but nowhere near as bad. The pain is pretty much confined to my knees and ankles, and only when going up and down stairs really. The rest of me feels ok.

Although I know that I will probably feel worse tomorrow (it always seems to hit me most on the second day after the long run), I can't explain what a relief it is to feel in relatively good shape. It makes me feel much more confident about actually being able to do this thing.



Watched the London Marathon today in its entirety. They had brilliant running weather for it - neither too hot or too cold, a light drizzle and no wind. It made me feel really emotional watching the normal folks at the back crossing the finishing line. Christ knows what I'll be like if I ever get to that point. When I get to that point.