Three is the magic number

Distance: 10.01 km/ 6.22 miles

Time:       56:38 secs

Calories:  856

Three runs in three days. Not bad considering I'm on holiday.

We go for a change of scenery today and, instead of running on the beach, decide to run through the local park, over a bridge and head north on the appropriately named 'Tropical Trail'. This is a really beautiful spot to run down, with very large, very expensive houses on one side and the sea glistening in the early morning sun on the other side.

The Long and not so winding road that
is Tropical Trail.

Unfortunately, even though the scenery makes for a nice change of pace it's ridiculously hot again (despite setting out 8:19am) and I'm soon soaked in sweat and willing an end to this run. It shows as well as Run Keeper has recorded an average pace of just 5:39 mins/mile, which is pretty slow compared with what I usually run.

The run ends after 10 kilometres and nearly an hour and I decide to award myself a day off the next day.

Life's a beach

Distance: 10.22km/6.35 miles

Time:       53:27 secs

Calories:  791

It's the second day of my holiday in Florida, it's Easter morning and I'm heading out for a 10km run with my brother-in-law Andy. Interestingly, the last time that I ran with Andy was on Christmas morning. It would seem that we only run together on religious holidays - I better check my diary to book in some runs for Hannukah, Ramadan and Diwali so as to better reflect the multicultural society in which we live.

As with the previous run we're running on the beach, mainly on the more compacted sand where the waves have been crashing. This is far easier to run on than the loose sand further up the beach, but it is quite different to road running as there is some 'give' in the surface which means you need to put in more effort when taking each stride. At least, I think that's the case and it - along with the heat - might help to explain why I'm finding it harder to run over here than in the UK.

Another difference compared with running in the UK is that running on the beach over here presents an interesting obstacle in the form of the Portuguese Man O' Wars which are washed up on the beach.

A Portuguese Man o' War washed
up on the beach.

I reckon there were something like five of these littering the route. Apparently, a sting from one of these wee beauties can result in death (although this is only in rare cases) it's best to give them a wide berth.

Temperature, running surface and tropical obstacles aside I was pleased to have managed a 10km run and despite trailing Andy by some distance I completed it at a fairly decent pace. Run Keeper has recorded my average pace as 8:25 mins/mile - that's just a little longer than the average pace required for a marathon time of 3:40 mins.

Running on Empty in the US of A

Distance: 6.91km/4.29 miles

Time:       38:12 secs

Calories:  535

What? You didn't think that this running obsession ended with the London Marathon, did you? 

After completing previous races, be they 10k or half marathons, I always intended to carry on running but never really managed to do so. This time round I was determined not to let the fitness and enthusiasm that had built up over 17 weeks of training go to waste, hence I find myself on a week's holiday in Florida heading out for a run on the first morning of the break.

My first post-marathon run takes place nearly a week after the marathon. Normally, this kind of break from running would make me feel guilty, but I wouldn't have been able to run for the first few days - just walking down stairs proved challenging enough - and by the time I felt able to pull on my running shoes again we were on the plane. Most of the runs I've been on this year have been done in London, so it's a nice change to find myself jogging down a pristine beach early in the morning trying to avoid waves as they lap at the beach.

I always intended for this first run to be relatively short and this seems like a sensible option given the weather. Even at this time of the day it's punishingly hot. It was a sunny London day when I ran the marathon, but the heat really didn't bother me that day. Over here it's a different story, I couldn't even contemplate running for anything like 26.2 miles. At the end of this run - some 22 miles shorter than my last one - the sweat is literally pouring off of me and I suspect the number of calories that Run Keeper calculates have been burnt is something of an underestimate.