Didn't run last night, went to Spock's for dinner instead, to hang out in her garden and play with all the cats. I felt really guilty though, and when I mentioned this she said I was insane and thinks I'm addicted to running which is preposterous and made me laugh.

I got the 'report' back from the medical screening people today, which is a joke. It basically contains a list of all the results that I already had, a list of recommended foods containing calcium for my bone density (which includes dairy ice-cream, camembert cheese and single cream ... hmmm I'll have nice dense bones but die of a heart attack instead), and a totally inadequate letter, which I'll copy below:

Dear Maxine,

Please find enclosed your results and other information about your recent health screening.

Both your cholesterol levels and blood sugars were OK.

Blood pressure was normal.

Bone density was just below the normal range. To maintain good bone density make sure that you do plenty of impact exercise and have a well balanced intake of calcium within your food - guide enclosed.

Your lung function was very poor. You need to substantially increase your cardiovascular activity and intensity to help develop your lung capacity and function.

Yours sincerely,

The most unenlightening Medical Performance Screening company in the world, ever.

(I made that last bit up).

I have to say, I do feel a bit ripped off. I wasn't expecting a full and detailed analysis, but I was expecting slightly more than this. The screening woman told me the 'report' would be a 'full interpretation' of my results, but I've not actually learned anything extra to what she already told me. I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor about my lungs though. I really don't see how I can increase my cardiovascular activity/intensity that much more. I work out at least five times a week for between 1.5 - 2hrs a time. 3 or 4 times a week I'm running for a minimum of 45 minutes a pop. Christ, surely that's enough? I suppose I could try and do something every single day without fail... maybe I should at least try and get a half hour of full-on cardio under my belt every day. It's just finding the time.... I seem to have a list of a million and one other things that need doing and that never get done as it is. Bollocks to it all. Maybe they'll discover that I've actually only got one lung or something, like that woman DeeDee that I travelled with in Canada. (She was always straggling at the back on all the ridiculously steep hikes we did, and I used to feel pleased that I was not last for once. Then I discovered that she only had one lung and I felt terrible).

Anyway. Managed to leave work a bit early today so got back in time to use the gym before it shuts at the crazy hour of 7pm. Thought it would be cooler than running outside in this thick, soupy heat but the air conditioning is still not working in there and it was hell on earth.

10 mins x crosstrainer
4 x miles easy run (Oops, got a bit bored and did one of the miles quite fast. Shoot me.)
10 mins x powerplate.

There are many unfathomable questions in life. Like, what purpose do wasps serve? How do planes stay in the sky? How can people eat licorice? But what I really want to know is, where the fuck is my heart rate monitor? It has disappeared off the face of the earth.

So today was officially the hottest day of the year so far and the hottest July day EVER, beating the long-standing standing record of 1911. Not quite the hottest day of all time though, which was in 2003. But I believe it was about 99 degrees today.

It's amazing what a fuss everyone's making about it. While kids are getting their legs blown off in Beirut and Nazareth, all our papers are proclaiming HEATWAVE! as their lead headline. Nevertheless, it is extremely hot - I've not felt heat like this since Austin last September but at least in Texas they have air-conditioning everywhere. My flat is like an oven, the trains are grim, work is the absolute pits, and to top it all off, the air-conditioning in the gym has broken down too, which is a bit like a bad dream. I just can't get cool.

If I only had a bit more time to myself. If only I had time to run or workout in the mornings. But I get up at 6am and am gone by 7 as it is. I suppose I could get up at 5am and go for a run then...... or maybe not. Really, I have about a two-hour window every day in which I can run, from around 7pm when I get back to Brighton to around 9pm when the gym closes, or it starts to get dark. I don't really like running on my own in the dark all that much. So if anything happens to alter my plans (like tonight) or if I have other things to do, then I'm buggered. I like my gym, but the opening hours are shite. It's only open from 7am till 9pm every day and only till 7pm on Fridays. Saturdays 9 till 6, and Sundays 10 - 5. Rubbish! When I stayed with Aprill in Dallas, her gym was open 24 hours a day. And it had a full size running track inside!

Tonight I got back much later than anticipated because the train had a speed restriction imposed as the tracks had buckled in the heat (honestly...). Then, when I got back to Brighton, the building next door but one to the gym was on fire! I counted eleven fire engines outside and two ambulances. It was pretty serious. There was thick black smoke pouring out the top of the building. Amazingly, the gym was still open so I went inside, but it was quite smoky, and of course, no air-con. Perfect conditions really, on a 99 degree day. I did a little warm-up and some weights first, for about half an hour, and left myself about an hour to run four slow miles and do some stretching. Then, 17 minutes into my run, we were evacuated! I was so bloody annoyed not to be able to finish.

Never mind. There were at least three very handsome fireman hanging around outside to soften the blow.

15 x mins crosstrainer
20 x mins weights
17 x mins run (approx 2.5k)

Oh my god. It is so bloody hot. Today MUST have been the hottest day of the year so far. We have no air-conditioning at work, and I sit in the middle of an open-plan office, not even next to a window. The breeze from the nearest fan just about reaches the ends of my hair if I'm lucky. I thought I was going to melt into a pool of mush today. At what temperature does it become illegal to make people go to work? It must have been over 90f in there today.

Tried to wait for as long as possible before running tonight but it didn't seem to be getting much cooler so decided just to brave it. Ran round to Gareth's to pick him up (just under a mile) and was already burning up by the time I knocked on the door. He wasn't ready of course (was assembling a new fan) and made me wait at least another fifteen minutes. Ridiculous really as we only ran together for five minutes before going off in opposite directions.

Just couldn't hack it tonight. It was just so unbearably hot and it felt really laboured. Tomorrow is apparently going to be over 100 degrees as well so will probably go back to the gym. Hopefully it will get a bit cooler by the weekend.

2.5 miles. Don't know how long it took... roughly 25 minutes I think. Something like that.

Slightly better today, but I still didn't achieve exactly what I set out to achieve so I don't feel particularly pleased although I'm trying not to bathe in self-pity like I was the other day.

I'm now attempting these speedwork sessions that the man with a plan has fixed me up with, and the main thing they've taught me so far is just how very comfortably indeed I've been wallowing around in my comfort zone, for God knows how long. I've got myself to a point where I can run indefinitely at a very slow pace, and my idea of improvement up until the last few days, was adding an extra mile or two to my endurance levels. I thought that by running longer, it meant that I was getting fitter. I'm sure it probably does, on some levels. But the marathon is over now, and I always said that after it was done, I wanted to concentrate on getting faster over shorter distances. I think I just said this without really realising what it actually meant. The only way to become a faster runner, is to practise running faster. And when I try and do this for any prolonged amount of time (and even 1 minute feels like a prolonged amount of time at the moment) it becomes blatantly obvious that I have not been pushing myself one iota over the last few months. I reached a level where I knew I would make it round the marathon, and stuck with it. That's ok. I'm not unhappy about that. But now I feel like I'm starting again from scratch. Today, I ran for an hour, and at the end of the session, I was drenched in sweat. Soaked. That hasn't happened for a very long time. At the end of the session, my lungs were on fire and the centre of my chest felt raspy and sore as I breathed in and out. My heart was pounding, my head was spinning and I felt sick. I wasn't even going FAST! Just faster than I'm used to. I think it's going to be a long old struggle this. But that's OK!

10 minutes cross trainer
1 x hour treadmill:
20 mins run starting at 8kph rising to 10kph, then -
2 x 200 metres at 8.43 min mile pace with 200m recovery jogs in between
1 x 400 metres at 8.45 min mile pace with 400m recovery.
Repeat x 3. Except during the third set the recovery jog became a brisk walk I'm afraid to say.
Gentle-ish jog to make up an hour... total distance 7.74km.
20 mins power plate.