Tentative steps

Day:         99

Distance: 5.6km

Time:       36:36 secs

Calories:  475

I've been following the physio's advice and doing my stretches three times a day for the last few days, but even so as I step outside for my first run since Friday I feel nervous. Up until 6:30am last Friday I'd felt so confident, but that assurance is gone now and will take some time to build up again.

I'm only planning on taking it steady because I want to see how my knee feels but for the first 15 minutes I'm paying attention to every single foot fall and trying to work out if my left knee hurts. There are a couple of times when I think my knee's hurting, but I wonder if this is just because I'm focused on that joint and that joint alone.

I reach the end of the run with no apparent ill effects and I feel like I could go on quite easily but I stop because tonight is just about testing to make sure everything's in working order. I'll increase the time and distance of my runs over the course of this week, but this close to the marathon I'm not prepared to risk it all just because I think I should be doing more. 

Any relief at how well this run went is tempered somewhat by what happened last week. I'd had trouble with my knee after the half marathon, but was fine when I did an hour long run during the week. The pain I experienced on Friday occurred some 11 miles into what should have been a much longer run, so I really don't think tonight's run is enough to build confidence. I'm only going to know how things are after I get a long run under my belt at the weekend.

It ended on the number 12 bus

Day:         96
Distance: 20.28km/12.60 miles

Time:       1:47:19 secs

Calories:  1,552

It's sunny, it's Friday and it's pay day. The Holy Trinity, you might think. Alas, not today.

And to think it started so well. I got up at 4:30am, as planned, with the intention of doing my last long run. I thought it would be difficult getting up at this time, but as soon as the alarm went off I sprang into action. I was looking forward to this run. I was following the same route as the one I ran two weeks ago and I wanted to beat the time that I'd recorded first time round. All was going really well for the first 10 miles.

I had done South London, run through the East end, up into North London and had passed through the West End but while running down the Mall I started to feel some pain in my left knee. I carried on running, but the pain only increased as I ran down Whitehall and past the Houses of Parliament. The pain was unbearable by the time I got to the little park next to Parliament and for the first time in my training I had to stop and walk. I'm pretty stubborn and very determined to do well in the marathon, but I know when enough's enough.

I must have cut a particularly forlorn figure as I walked through the park and over Lambeth Bridge. I tried a little light running a couple of times, but both times the pain (which wasn't apparent when walking) came straight back.

What should have been my triumphant final long run ended in utter defeat aboard the number 12 bus heading home. I felt like crying. All that time, effort and energy I'd committed. More than 13 weeks of training. The money that people had donated. It all looked like it would amount to nothing. How was that fair?

I had thought that this blog post would end in the previous paragraph, but I'm pleased and very, very relieved to say that there is a silver lining to this story. After putting out a self-pitying status update on Facebook I was overwhelmed by the sympathy and physio suggestions I received from a good number of friends. Finally, a useful role for social media.

My mate Jim - who you may remember from earlier blog posts - recommended a place on Chancery Lane called Central Health as he had been there recently when he injured his knee while training for a half marathon. Luckily, I was able to get a lunchtime appointment on Friday and having been to them now I'm also very happy to recommend them to anyone living or working in London who's in need of a physio. I went in at midday feeling pretty despondent and came out at 1pm feeling much more positive.

After putting me through my paces with various tasks such as walking, squatting, hopping, running on a treadmill and a number of stretches the physio told me that I hadn't damaged my knee. I could have kissed her.

It turns out that the Ilotibial band in my left leg is tighter than the one in my right and this was putting added strain on that knee, so all the stretches I've been told to do are to loosen up the muscles in my left leg.

The Ilotibial band. Nope, I'd never heard of it either.

The physio also taped up my left knee to try and correct the position of the knee cap. The upshot of all this is that I need to rest for a couple of days (which is fine as the planned boozy weekend didn't allow for much running anyway) and do the new stretches three times a day and then I should be fine to do some light running on Sunday or Monday. We'll see how it goes, but that news certainly helped to brighten a day which had looked a lot bleaker just an hour before.

Wednesday Evening Blues*

Day:         94
Distance: 11.30km/7.02miles

Time:       55:06 secs

Calories:  962

I set out for Wednesday night's run with two objectives in mind:

          1) To make sure my left knee was feeling ok

          2) To average a pace of 8mins/mile

If you read my last post you'll know that in the last couple of runs I had some discomfort and I was concerned about picking up an injury so close to the marathon. If you read the post before that you'll know that averaging 8 mins per mile would mean that I complete the marathon in less than my target time of 3:40.

So, both objectives were pretty important and I'm pleased to report that both were achieved. In fact, it's doubtful whether the second could have been achieved without the first.

Across the entire run I averaged 7:51mins/mile, with five of the seven miles completed in under 8 minutes and two of them - both of which contained a hill climb - taking slightly longer (mile 4 took 8:03 and mile 6 took 8:06). While this run was 19 miles shorter than a marathon I think it's positive to find that I can comfortably run at a pace quicker than that which I need in order to achieve my target. I don't know whether I can maintain that kind of pace for the full 26.2 miles but I'll give it my best shot.

I plan to be up at 4:30am tomorrow to run my final long run, so I better sign off now.

* You may or may not have noticed that a lot of the titles for my blog posts are inspired by songs or musicians that I particularly like. I was struggling with a title for tonight's post, if the run had been done the day before I'd have grabbed for "Ruby Tuesday" by the Stones but as it was a Wednesday I had a tougher time finding something suitable. "Wednesday Evening Blues" is a song by the legendary Blues-man John Lee Hooker, other than the day of the week it references it isn't particularly appropriate - after this run I certainly didn't feel blue - but it was the best I could do, I'm afraid. Actually, I don't know why I'm apologising - it's an absolute tune.

Like a juggler running out of hands

Day:         92
Distance: 5.09km

Time:       34:45 secs

Calories:  391

Something I forgot to mention in yesterday's post was that for the last few miles of the Brentwood Half Marathon I was running with some discomfort in my left knee. It wasn't hurting enough to make me stop and it didn't affect my pace, but the pain was apparent. As a result, I thought I had better take it easy on Monday night with a gentle jog with Varoo.

As we set off the discomfort was again apparent and remained throughout the run. I thought that this jog might help to shake it off, but it would appear that wasn't the case. I'm now so close to running the marathon that I really, really don't want to pick up an injury so I'll be resting for a day and will see how I get on on Wednesday night.

In other running news, I'm due to do my last long run this weekend. I'm planning on re-running the 22 miles that I did the week before last (knee willing). The problem that I have is fitting it in. All of my long runs so far have been done on either Saturday or Sunday. This week presents some difficulties though as I'm out on Friday night and the next morning we're heading out early to celebrate a good friend's 40th birthday. Both of these social events will involve the consumption of far more alcohol than is recommended by UK Medical Chief Officers. As such, the likelihood of me getting up for the usual early morning run is even slimmer than Nick Clegg's hopes of winning Most Trustworthy Politician of the year 2011 award. So, I'm left with the less than appealing prospect of getting up at something like 5am on Friday in order to fit in a 3 hour run before work.

Up until now I've done pretty well fitting work, social life and marathon training in but, to quote Elvis Costello, on this occasion:

"I feel like a juggler running out of hands"
(Elvis Costello - "Welcome to the working week")

The Only Way is Essex

Day:         91
Distance: 21.04km

Time:       1:38:53 secs

Calories:  1,717

Brentwood in Essex is home to such vacuous non-entities as Jodie Marsh and Pixie Lott. The town also plays host to some, if not all, of the action documented in ITV1's study of social detritus "The Only Way is Essex". On the plus side Brentwood has also given us Jay from "The Inbetweeners" (or James Buckley to his mum and dad) and the Brentwood Half Marathon. This is the second time that I've done this 13 mile run through town and country and it deserves to be better known than Jodie Marsh, Pixie Lott and TOWiE put together.

I hadn't planned to take part this year, but after my friend Lauren injured her ankle a while back she asked me if I'd take her place and I gladly accepted having enjoyed last year's event so much. Another friend, Louise, was taking part and as she ran the London Marathon last year I thought we could run round together and I could get some helpful running tips off of her.

The race starts at 10am and we set off at around 8 mins/mile for the first 5 miles. To put that into some sort of context, I'm aiming to complete the London Marathon in 3:40 mins, so if I average 8 mins per mile on the day I'll complete the 26.2 miles in around 3.5 hours. In effect, 8 minute miles are actually quicker than I'm planning to do. So, I'm both surprised and pleased to find that this pace is very manageable and, as a result, after 5 miles I decide to up the pace.

I didn't set out with any intention of beating my time from last year (1:39:36), but I wanted to see what kind of pace I could maintain if I pushed myself a little bit more. A quick check of Run Keeper shows that after those first five miles I was averaging 7:23 mins/mile. It doesn't sound that much faster, but if I were to average that on the marathon (which, admittedly, is unlikely) my time would be around 3:13 mins - so it clearly makes quite a difference.

As I was running with Louise I decided to leave the ipod and my trusty running playlist at home. A few people have advised me to do the same for the London Marathon so as to experience the unique atmosphere and the support of the crowd, so it was good to try this out. While the crowd is considerably smaller for the Brentwood Half Marathon a lot of people do turn out to cheer you on along the way and some people stand along the course with bowls of jelly babies for the runners. I grew up in the '80s with parental scare stories about never accepting sweets from strangers, so I have to reluctantly decline their kind offers. As I take the final corner of the race I'm lifted by a big cheer from my four friends who have come out to watch Lou and I and I have to admit it's good to see and hear them so maybe I will leave the ipod at home on April 17th.

Brentwood Half Marathon uses Chip Timing and puts the results up on their website impressively quickly. The overall winner completed the course in a frankly frightening time of 1:07:21. That means he was averaging around 5:10 mins/miles. I don't know how someone gets to be that fast. I could probably shave a few minutes off of my time, but there's no way I could cut it down by 30 minutes. Crazy times aside, the website shows that I finished 309th out of 2,089 runners. That's based upon the 'guntime', but as Lou and I started off towards the back we didn't pass the starting line for a couple of minutes so I think that the 'chiptime' offers a better measure of my performance. It also happens to make my performance look better as it shows that I finished 268th out of 2,089 runners. Not bad for a morning's work. Not bad at all.

Ice Ages and Dinosaurs in Essex

Day:         90

Distance: 5.30km

Time:       30:20 secs

Calories:  437

We've returned to Essex, and what feels like the depths of Winter, for the weekend. I'm running the Brentwood Half Marathon tomorrow, so I thought I'd take the chance to go out for a gentle jog in the early morning sunshine. At 7:26am the cars and pavements are still covered in frost, I have to dodge two ice patches while running up Shenfield High Street and it feels as if my hand is frozen solid to my water bottle. 

I thought we were past all of this. I served my time running in the snow at Christmas, surely the weather should be better by now?

Temperatures aside, this gentle jog was just right for a pre-race run. Nothing too taxing (an average speed of 5:43 mins/km) but it's good to get out there and get the heart beating a little faster. 

Speaking of things that get your heart beating faster (how seamless was that transition to a new topic?), I've had the joy of rediscovering a band this week. It's such a great feeling when you discover a new band and, it turns out, you get a similar feeling upon rediscovering a band you hadn't thought of in years.

When I was a young teen in the '90s  my sister had a mix tape which had some great stuff from that time on it. One of the bands was Dinosaur Jr. and I remember really loving the song "Start Choppin" but for some reason they're a band that I never investigated further and over the years I kind of forgot about them. Until this week. Given my love for all things containing a healthy dose of distorted guitars, melody and soul and the fact that they're contemporaries of Nirvana and Pixies I'm kicking myself that I've been missing out on them for so long. Well, I'm pleased to say that mistake has been rectified now, so I thought I'd share the Spike Jonze directed video for "Feel the Pain" with you.

38836 Was My Number

Day:         88

Distance: 9.31km

Time:       45:56 secs

Calories:  720

I received my final copy of the Marathon News magazine this morning. More excitingly I also received my registration form, so I now know that my running number on 17th April is 38836. With exactly one calendar month to go until the big day I think I can honestly now say this shit just got real.

For tonight's run I decide to go with the "50 mins 2 mins easy 10 mins fast" option from Week 12 of the training guide. I set off with the "slow/fast" playlist on my ipod and it starts well enough with the first slow song giving way to the Rakes' "22 Grand Job" around 2 minutes in. I realise something's up when the breakneck riffing is replaced by Bill Withers' repetitive classic "Ain't no sunshine". As I recall, that's the fourth and final slow song on this playlist. Dammit, I've left the ipod on shuffle.

This is something of a double-edged sword. In one respect it's good because not knowing which song is going to be playing next keeps me on my toes. In another respect it means that any kind of structure to the run quickly goes out the window. So, instead of running at an easy pace for 2 minutes and then following it up with a sustained period at a fast pace the run begins with a quick interplay between slow and fast songs and just 20 minutes in I realise that I've heard all four slow songs already. Therefore, the remainder of the run was done with the backing of 26 minutes worth of fast paced punk and indie from the likes of the Clash, the Ramones and Idlewild. You couldn't ask for better (musical) running companions, but this isn't what I'd planned at all.

Like I say, it kept me on my toes but by the time I got back to the flat I was more knackered than I would normally be after the kind of run that I had planned.

The National's anthem

Day:         86
Distance: 5.02km

Time:       32:06 secs

Calories:  385

The 12 week training guide is over, but I can't go cold turkey just yet so I find myself following the guide for my mid-week runs in Week 13. The first run of the week is "30 mins easy". I complained about this a while back saying that it didn't feel long enough, but after completing 22 miles at the weekend I'm more than happy to do it this time. My thighs were still on fire on Monday (2 days after the long run, lest we forget) so I leave it until Tuesday night before stepping out for half an hour.

A little while back it seemed that I was mentioning the National in just about ever post on this blog. In fact, I was mentioning them so frequently that my wife issued a cease and desist order for a minimum of three posts. By my reckoning I haven't mentioned Brooklyn's finest purveyors of American alternative rock round these here parts since 21st February so I make no apologies whatsoever for welcoming them back to Running on Empty. As I mentioned in previous posts their last album "High Violet" is perfectly suited to an 'easy' pace as all the songs are both wonderful and similar tempos. So, it is with joy in heart that I set out with the sound of album opener "Terrible Love" in my ears. I'm pretty sure I haven't posted this song up before, so it gives me great pleasure to do so now.

At just 5km in length I think that this is the shortest run I've recorded so far on this blog. Usually that would make me feel as if I'd taken my foot off the gas (if you'll excuse an Americanim), but 30 minutes seems appropriate after completing the longest pre-marathon run at the weekend. The only real downside is that because "High Violet" weighs in at 45 minutes plus I wasn't treated to its full majesty. Having anticipated this I was able to skip some songs to ensure I got to listen to the stirring album closer "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks". If only there were a way for me to plan my actual running playlist so that this song was playing as I cross the finish line on 17th April I think it would feel even more special.

Stats Entertainment

Day:         84

Distance: 6.93km

Time:       47:27 secs

Calories:  529

The Guardian's 12 week marathon training guide comes to an end with a "45 mins easy" run. As with the first run of the week I'm accompanied by Varoo. 

I'm in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to go out the day after completing 22 miles, but an "easy" pace seems like a good idea and as we start running I can feel the aches and pains in my thighs loosening a little. Also, in doing this run I've achieved what I set out to do and been out for five runs this week. That feels a lot better than the three I managed last week. Thirteen weeks ago three runs in a week would have been more than sufficient but training for a marathon has got me into a completely different mindset.

Now seems like a good point at which to look back over the 12 weeks to see what progress I've made. A comparison with week one really underlines how much the training builds up. As the table below shows, I've increased the weekly distance by around 40km and have more than doubled the amount of time spent running. 

                    Runs (n)      Distance        Time

Week 1        4                  29.05km        2:46 mins

Week 12      5                  68.29km        6:17 mins

The stats for the full 12 weeks show that I have undertaken 51 runs in 82 days (that's an average of 4.25 runs per week), spent 54 hours running, covered 573 kilometres (or, 356 miles) and burnt off 40,071 calories since I started recording that stat in Week 2.

It's useful to look back at these stats as they show how far I've come, provide reassurance that I can run a full marathon and give a good idea of the preparation that goes into marathon running.

So, what now? It's five weeks until the big day and I now find myself cut adrift by the Guardian. The training guide gives no help whatsoever for the 'tapering' period so I'm left casting around for other trusted sources of advice. Luckily, Varoo is on hand with the "Ultimate Marathon Training Plan" courtesy of Runners World. I'm interested in the last 3 weeks as that's how much time I will be allowing myself for the tapering period (which starts in 2 weeks). I still struggle with the logic of reducing the weekly long run from 22 miles down to 13 miles but how could you not trust something called the Ultimate Marathon Training Plan?

Monopoly Marathon

Day:         83

Distance: 35.11km

Time:       3:06:30 secs

Calories:  2,670

In my experience it usually takes ages to finish games of Monopoly. So it feels somehow right that the game of running Monopoly that I started last Saturday (see "Collect £200 salary as you pass Go") takes a whole week to complete.

If you haven't read my account of last week's long run a brief synopsis would tell you that over the course of a 33.88km run I ticked off 13 of the 22 'street' squares from the classic Monopoly board. When it came to plotting a route for this week I decided to finish off the Monopoly board by plotting a route that would take in the remaining 9 streets.

Mr Monopoly greets the news of his £5bn bonus in sober fashion.

The first of the remaining streets is crossed off of my list once I cross from South London into the City via Tower Bridge. Heading straight up from the bridge I run up Vine Street which is about as nondescript a street as you're ever likely to find. I have absolutely no idea why it was included in the board game. The only vaguely interesting thing I can say about it is that it is the first of the three 'orange' squares to be ticked off my list.


From there I head out of the City towards Aldgate and Whitechapel Road which, along with the Old Kent Road, is the cheapest square on the board. Whitechapel is home to Tayyabs, possibly the finest curry house in the land, but unfortunately for me it's far too early for the restaurant to be open and I've still got 7 streets to tick off the list. From Whitechapel I head up Brick Lane and for the first time ever no-one tries to entice me into their restaurant with promises of 20% discounts and free beers. Even though it's only 7:45am I reckon I'd have been as susceptible as ever to such bargaining, had it happened.


From Brick Lane I head towards Old Street and then up City Road to my next Monopoly destination: The Angel Islington. As with Mayfair last week it's worth noting that this isn't actually a street, but a part of North London which was named after a coaching inn which stood on the Great North Road. The coaching inn is now a Co-Operative bank and as I pass it I successfully cross the first of the light blue squares from my list. The second of these squares is ticked off almost straight away as I turn onto Pentonville Road. Running down this road takes me past a fantastic pub called the Castle which boasts a lovely rooftop beer garden that is perfectly suited to a nice sunny day like today. The third light blue square isn't far away but as I get to the end of Pentonville Road I can actually tick off one of the four railway stations on the Monopoly board - King's Cross.

The only one of the four railway
stations that actually features
in my two Monopoly runs

Going past the station I find myself on Euston Road, which I follow for a short while. I seem to remember reading a while back that Euston Road is one of the most heavily polluted roads in London, so it's probably a good thing I don't hang around for too long there. At Euston Square station I turn left down Gower Street and head off in search of the next square on my list. 


In all, I'm probably on Bow Street for no more than 8 seconds before I take the first right down Floral Street and head towards Leicester Square. It seems a little wrong to deal with an historic street like this with such indecent haste, so allow me to right that wrong by telling you that Bow Street was home to Oliver Cromwell in the 17th Century and London's first professional police force - the Bow Street Runners - in the 18th Century. I feel better now.


Running across the top of Leicester Square takes me past one of the Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses which litter this area. I'm interested to see that the front of the 'restaurant' is cordoned off with blue and white "Police Warning" tape - at last, someone's called the food police to report the culinary crimes committed there.


After Leicester Square I find myself on Coventry Street which means that I've completed my tour of the three yellow squares. I head down towards Piccadilly Circus, which is relatively free of traffic. I know it's still early, but I find it hard to conceive of this area being anything less than full of traffic. I run up Piccadilly in the opposite direction to the way I ran last week, but the outcome is the same as I turn down St James's Street and then onto Pall Mall. At this point I must confess that I had to cheat a little. At the start of Pall Mall there is a right turn available which takes me down Marlborough Road. The actual square in the board game is Marlborough Street, but its inclusion in today's run would have necessitated running over to Fulham and would have extended this run beyond what I wanted to do.


As I write this a sickening realisation hits me. I've just counted up the number of Monopoly streets that I ran down today and there's 8 of them. As I said at the top of the post there were 9 streets remaining. I look back, make sure that I've counted properly. I consult my route to make sure I haven't missed anything off. I scratch my head and then I check an actual Monopoly board. I haven't been down Fleet Street. I didn't go down there last week either. 


I'm genuinely gutted.


Anyway, let's not focus on that. Instead let's focus on the fact that at just under 22 miles in length this run (which concluded with a run through Westminster, a run down the South Bank and the return home) is the furthest I will run until the big day. I still haven't quite got my head around the logic of this. To my mind, it makes perfect sense to run the full 26.2 miles in training just so I know that I can do it but everything I've read and been told tells me that the furthest you should run during your marathon training is between 18-22 miles. After that you're supposed to 'taper' your runs until the big day.


When I first planned my marathon training I built in 2 weeks of contingency, as it happens I haven't needed them so next week I'll be running the Brentwood Half Marathon and the week after I'll run today's route again. Hopefully, when I re-run it I'll feel better than I did today as I was running the last few kilometres. I felt absolutely shot to pieces on the return leg of this run and no amount of Carbohydrate gel or rock n' roll seemed to be able to lift me. I've checked the stats on Run Keeper and the last 6 kilometres were considerably slower than the 29 that had preceded them, but the main thing is that I completed the run. My feet won't thank me for carrying on, but I am very pleased to have covered such a distance in what I consider to be a decent time.

Steady As She Goes

Day:         81

Distance: 10.95km

Time:       55:54 secs

Calories:  909

The training guide for Thursday specifies "60 mins steady", so armed with the trusty running playlist I set off for a pre-work run to the sound of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Stones. What a great song to start the run. It immediately gets me running at a good pace and sets the tone for the rest of the run.

I've got my ipod on shuffle but in the first half hour I've heard three songs by the Stones, one AC/DC track and Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working". Despite the soundtrack my mood is anything but blue, I feel elated. I'm running freely at a good pace and I'm accompanied by some of the finest music ever recorded. What's not to love?

I've never been that sure what the training guide means by "steady", but the Run Keeper app indicates that this was a very steady run. The average pace was recorded as 5:06 mins/km with the fastest kilometre being chewed up and spat out in 4:54 mins and the slowest - which coincided with the only hill climb on the route - taking 5:15 mins.

Wednesday Morning 6am

Day:         80

Distance: 9.70km

Time:       48:57 secs

Calories:  748

Getting up early to go running really gives you an appreciation of the changing seasons. After all those cold, dark mornings that I've run through over the last 11 weeks I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now when I step out for a pre-work run it's already getting light which makes for a much more appealing prospect. It's still not easy getting up at stupid o'clock, but it certainly feels like less of a chore.

Or, at least it feels like less of a chore until I check the training guide and see that "50 mins  2 mins easy 10 mins fast x 4" awaits me today. Groan. I don't even have a playlist that will match this specification, so I decide to amend the run to fit a playlist I do have. The playlist I have is 40 minutes long and consists of 2 mins easy 8 mins fast x 5. The sharp eyed amongst you will note that this is 10 minutes shorter than the specified time. The prospect of running without music is none too appealing, so this means that at the end of the 40 minutes I need to clumsily fumble around with the ipod that is strapped to my arm, underneath my running jacket to try and take the playlist back a few songs.

With tunes from the likes of British Sea Power, The Ramones and Arcade Fire to keep me going this run already feels like less of a chore. That said, for some reason when I start out my knees are really aching. When I say "for some reason" I'm well aware that the cause of this is the running I've been doing, but I don't understand why they're aching at this point in particular. If it was the day after my 21 mile run I'd understand it more.

Anyway, the problem with the knees is forgotten pretty much as soon as the slow first song givese way to the first set of "fast" songs. The initial burst you have when you come out of the "easy" 2 minutes feels really good and the trusty Run Keeper app shows that the Vaccines' "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" propelled me from an average speed of 5:15 mins/km to 4.00 mins/km. This pace wasn't maintained for all 8 minutes, but there was definitely a difference between that section of the run and the 2 minutes of "easy" running soundtracked by Mark Kozelek's cover of AC/DC's "Love at First Feel".

As with all these kinds of runs the pace of the different sections definitely slows down the further into the run you get. It gets to the stage where it feels like there's no difference between a fast and easy section but the stats on Run Keeper are reassuring. They show that on the final slow section I averaged 5:40 mins/km, while on the fast section I was averaging 4:50 mins/km. Granted, both of these averages are considerably slower than those I clocked up first time round but I'm pleased that there is still a discernible difference.

My Monday date

Day:         78

Distance: 5.60km

Time:       38:36 secs

Calories:  427

I can't believe that it's the final week of the Guardian's 12 week marathon training guide. The final week, much like the 11 that preceded it, begins with an 'easy' run. Like last week the guide only calls for 30 minutes in total. 

I didn't really enjoy last Monday's run. As I wrote at the time, 30 minutes really didn't seem long enough. This week was much better though because I was joined by my wife - who has finally decided to train for this Sunday's Regent's Park Jog - and because I'm absolutely determined to fit five runs in this week after only managing three in the week before. 

A comparison with the same run from last week (which took me around 33 minutes) shows that we took it pretty easily, but that was fine by me. After the long run over the weekend it's just good to get back out on the streets and to get those legs moving again. I can worry about going faster in the other four runs I'm doing this week. 

Collect £200 salary as you pass Go

Day:         76

Distance: 33.88km

Time:       2:57:10 secs

Calories:  2,581

Week 11 of the training plan ends with the instruction to complete a "165 mins" run. Seeing as I ran for 162 minutes last Sunday I decided to come up with a longer route. As in the past couple of weeks I thought I'd take the opportunity to go on another sightseeing tour round London. After plotting the route last night I realised that, without designing it that way, the run includes 13 of the 22 'street' squares which feature on the classic Monopoly board.

A map of the run I did on 5th March 2011.

The run starts off in much the same fashion as other recent long runs, which means that the very first street from the Monopoly board that I come to is Old Kent Road. By a happy coincidence, this is also the very first square on the Monopoly board and was also where our legendary Monopoly Pub Crawl started a few years back. Such happy, drunken memories. 

After the Old Kent Road I could have gone across Tower Bridge and turned right to go down Whitechapel Road thereby completing my haul of brown squares, but instead I cross the river at London Bridge and find myself in the City. As in previous weeks I head West following the route of the Thames for a short while until I turn up Northumberland Avenue - the second road on my Monopoly sightseeing tour. At the end of this road I briefly set foot on the Strand, run round Trafalgar Square (both of which feature on the Monopoly board) and up Charing Cross Road.

This route takes me past the tourist hell that is Leicester Square and past the offices of Capital Radio. Although I've got the running playlist on for the duration of the run I couldn't tell you what song was playing at this point, there was only one song running through my head. In the words of the legendary Joe Strummer: "Don't touch that dial!".

When plotting the route I'd forgotten all about the work which is currently going on at Tottenham Court Road as part of the Crossrail project. This means that at the end of Charing Cross Road I have to negotiate the building site where the tube station is and turn left onto Oxford Street. Interestingly, this is the 2nd time that I've run down "Europe's largest high street". The first time occurred a couple of years ago when I had a romantic evening planned which included dinner at Claridges. The tube we were on broke down at Holborn and as we were unable to hail a cab I was worried we'd lose our dinner reservations so Varoo and I both ran from Holborn, along Oxford Street and down to Brook Street to get there in time. We arrived at the restaurant somewhat dishevelled but, crucially, were still able to get the table I had booked. It wasn't the entrance I had planned, but the rest of the evening went very well as Varoo said Yes when I asked her to marry me during dessert.

Anyway, enough of that. Following Oxford Street means that I run across Regent Street and past Bond Street tube and New Bond Street. Although there is no Bond Street in London I'm still counting this as another Monopoly square - it's not my fault they made a game with places that don't actually exist. I turn left at Marble Arch and head down Park Lane, which takes me down the Eastern side of Hyde Park. At £350 this is the 2nd most expensive square in the game - and it shows. The most expensive square in the game - Mayfair - isn't actually a street but as I'm now in the area of London known as "Mayfair" I think it's fair to say that another square has been crossed off the list.

At the bottom of Park Lane I turn left onto Piccadilly and run alongside Green Park before turning right on St James's Street and then left onto Pall Mall which takes me back to Trafalgar Square. As with last week's run I turn down Whitehall, which I really enjoy running down as it gives you a good view of the Houses of Parliament and takes you past the Cenotaph and Downing Street. As I'm coming up to Downing Street the gates open and I think for a moment I might catch a glimpse of an important political figure, or even George Osborne, but it actually looks like a removal van. Less than a year into this government I fear it's too early for that, but there is a pleasing moment when I imagine David Cameron's furniture being moved out of Downing Street.

From there the run takes me through Westminster, along the Thames and up to Chelsea Bridge where I turn back and begin the journey home via Vauxhall Bridge.

Obviously, there was more to this run (11 kilometres more in fact) but I've already written about my route home and as I don't set foot on any of the remaining Monopoly squares I won't dwell on it. One thing I did notice with this long run was that I felt far more tired out than I did last week. This was despite eating the Lucozade cereal bar beforehand and consuming the Carbohydrate gels whilst running. The only real difference I can see (other than the increase in distance and time) is that I've done far fewer runs during the week. Last week I managed to fit five runs in, this week I've only been able to fit in three. It's been a busy week, but I think there's a lesson in there for me.

Anyway, to conclude this post I thought I'd note that completing this run means that I have now covered more than 500 kilometres in my marathon training. It's also the first time that I've run more than 20 miles in one go (33.88km = 21miles). Both of those feel like landmarks, which is fitting given how many actual landmarks I've run past over the last 76 days.

I face the horizon everywhere I go

Day:         74

Distance: 10.47km

Time:       56:00 secs

Calories:  806

It's unbelievably cold this week and the prospect of "60 mins steady" first thing in the morning is considerably less appealing than remaining tucked up in bed. That said, I've only done one run so far this week and that was just 30 minutes long, so I really do need to pull those trusty trainers on and brave the elements.

I step outside and, after a brief stretch, I set off at 6:35am. As usual, there are very few people out and about at this time and those that are tend to be fellow runners. Typically the best you get from most runners in London is a barely perceptible nod in your general direction, so I'm genuinely taken aback when one person I pass gives me a huge smile and a cheery hello. I wondered at first whether I knew him. I'm just not used to this and I fear that the greeting he received from me was considerably less warm.

Anyway, I'm very glad that I did manage to haul myself out of bed as the run went well and in completing it I can see that I have now covered a grand total of 470 kilometres throughout my marathon training so far. That means that once this weekend's long run is complete I'll have run more than 500 kilometres (or, 310 miles) in pursuit of the 2011 London Marathon. 

I wonder if there's a metric version of the Proclaimers somewhere in mainland Europe with a hit single entitled "500 kilometres" to their name - if there is you can be sure I'll be posting that video up at the weekend by way of celebration. In the meantime I'll make do by quoting some lyrics from a song which the running playlist spun during this morning's run. They seem appropriate both in terms of my impending 30th birthday and because of the marathon training:

"I've felt old before my time but now I keep the age away,
By burning up the miles and yeah by filling up my days"                                                                      ("The Road" by Frank Turner)