Countdown to Stockholm begins in earnest

At the weekend I drew up my training schedule for the next 8 weeks which will take me right through to the Stockholm Marathon. Its designed to bring me in at an easy 4 hours (although no marathon is easy as you'll appreciate if you ever try one). It began with two half marathon distances last week the latter of which involved Andrew and I running the route of the Berkhamsted half-marathon in 24 degrees heat in a time of 1hr 54mins. I wasn't too unhappy with this time as the local serious runners reckon that the hilly nature of this route is equivelant to 15 miles on a flatter route. Also it was Andrew's first run for 4 weeks due to a mystery virus. I found it a hard run due to the aforementioned heat and it has taken me a couple of days to recover. I ran just over 10k today in 56 mins which is very slow for me but my legs still felt heavy from Saturday night.

I feel more focused now that my runs for the next 8 weeks are mapped out. Its always easier to plan your week knowing what just has to be done.

The great thing is that I have been injury free for almost a year now which is fantastic. Juice Plus+ capsules every day and Juice Plus+ Complete drunk after every run seem to have stopped me having any muscle pulls at all. I can't recommend them highly enough. See the sidebar if you'd like to try them.

I'm still not sure if the Q-Link is doing me much good but I'll persevere until after the Marathon.