The Acid Test

Day:         104

Distance: 21.59km/13.42 miles

Time:       1:53:07 secs

Calories:  1,883

It's now a week since I hurt my knee. In that time I've been to the physio, been reassured by the physio, done my stretches and been out on three increasingly long runs. Everything up until this point has gone well, but the real test is undertaking a long run. When I've had problems with my knee it seemed to occur at or around the 10 mile mark, so a 13 mile run should give a good indication of whether or not I'm going to be able to run the London Marathon on April 17th.

Well, I won't hold you in suspense.

The run went really well, there was no pain or discomfort in my left knee* and I also managed a decent pace of 8:26 mins/mile. That's a tiny bit slower than what I would need to run to achieve my goal of 3:30 mins, but I'm just so relieved that these 13 miles passed off uneventfully that I'm not going to beat myself up over my pace.

Over the course of the last week I've gone from the lowest point in my marathon training to one of the many high points I've experienced over the last 104 days and, so, to celebrate I thought I'd share another song from the running playlist. Every time this song comes on it puts a smile on my face and some more fuel in my muscles. It also seems to suit the beautiful weather that we're enjoying in London at the moment. I couldn't find a great video for the song, but it doesn't matter when the material's as good as this.

* It should be noted that there was some pain in my right knee though. I don't know if this is because I've been over-compensating on the left side or not (or maybe it's just old age), but I've started doing the physio's stretches on that side as well.

First run of the thirties

Day:         102

Distance: 10.86km/6.75 miles

Time:       57.42 secs

Calories:  899

It's been a busy old week since I last posted. In that time I've turned 30, drunk far too much and been on a very brief work trip to Vienna. Hence, I'm only now writing up a run from last Wednesday (as I write this it's the following Tuesday).

As you may have read, I hurt my knee the week before and I was seriously worried that it would affect my ability to run the London Marathon, so I took tentative steps over the week. This was the third run of the week and as I hadn't had any problems on the two previous runs I wanted to test my knee out by running further and for longer. 

As with the two previous runs I'm pleased to report that I didn't experience any problems with my left knee. In addition, Run Keeper shows that my average pace was 5.19 mins/km, which is a fairly normal pace for me - so I could feel the confidence which I'd lost in the previous week beginning to return.

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.

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.

Early Mornin' Rain

Day:         66

Distance: 7.93km
Time:       39:46 secs
Calories:  658

The alarm goes off at 6am. I can hear the rain pelting down on the street outside the bedroom window. Brilliant.

It's perhaps not that surprising that I cling onto the duvet for a good 30 minutes before finally willing myself to get up and get out for "40 mins 2 mins easy 8 mins fast x 4". There was a time when the prospect of this run alone would have been reason enough to stay in bed, but not any more. I'm finding this kind of run more manageable now, which hopefully is indicative of improvements in fitness levels rather than a sign that I've been taking it easy. I'm also finding these runs more enjoyable since compiling a "slow/fast" playlist to accompany me.

Speaking of the "slow/fast" playlist, I still haven't got round to replacing Bill Withers' repetitive "Ain't no sunshine" with another slow song around 2 minutes long. However, the song did seem to catch the mood of today's rain-soaked run so maybe it has earned a reprieve?

As ever, Run Keeper provides some fascinating (to me at least) and useful data from the run. The app shows each minute of the run as a graph and tracking the peaks and troughs of a run like this is really interesting. Unfortunately, I can't work out a way to show that information here so I've cobbled together the information in a less engaging format. The table below shows the average pace for each of the sections:

Section          Type          Pace (mins/km)

One                Slow           6:10

Two                Fast            4:15

Three              Slow           6:02

Four                Fast            4:50

Five                 Slow           6:00

Six                   Fast            4:58

Seven              Slow           6:25

Eight                Fast            4:51

I'm pleased with that. The stats show a real difference between each slow and fast section of the run. It's reassuring and encouraging, because the difference isn't always apparent during the run. 

See ya later Alligator

Day:         64

Distance: 6.82km

Time:       43:13 secs

Calories:  528

My wife described the bedraggled figure who staggered through the front door after yesterday's long run as a "broken man". She had a point. After sitting down for any amount of time my legs felt incredibly stiff when I got up to do something. Walking down stairs this morning wasn't much fun either. So, heading out on a cold Monday night for a 45 minute long run at 'easy' tempo felt like some kind of achievement.

My legs are still hurting, but it seems to me that it's important to get out and stretch them with an unchallenging run. That means going at a a fairly slow pace and avoiding even the merest suggestion of a hill climb.

As in previous weeks my soundtrack for this slow run is the National, but for a slight change I opt for the album "Alligator" rather than "High Violet". Although it's another great album that I love listening to it's just not right for this kind of run. Where "High Violet" maintains a similar pace across an entire album "Alligator" is much more varied and includes a couple of more up tempo numbers like "Abel" and "Mr November". That said, I've just checked Run Keeper and it turns out that my average pace in this run was considerably slower than in the same run last week when I listened to "High Violet" (6:20 mins/km compared with 6:05 mins/km). I suspect this has more to do with yesterday's 29 kilometres rather than any musical accompaniment.

While on the subject of music I realise that I haven't written about the actual running playlist for some time. At 92 songs and 4.7 hours long it is pretty much as long as I need it to be, but I will consider it a work in progress up until running the London Marathon. 

I got to thinking about it while listening to British Sea Power's new album "Valhalla Dancehall" on my way home tonight. The album opens with the anthemic protest song "Who's in control" and as soon as the guitar riff kicked in 10 seconds into the track I knew that this was exactly the kind of thing that I need on the playlist. 

So, that's been added along with "White Riot" by the Clash (I can't believe it wasn't already on there) and "The People" by the Music which was suggested by a good friend of mine recently. I'm looking forward to trying these three out on my next run.

These additions mean that I'm able to jettison a couple of tracks which really haven't been working for me recently; "I like you so much better when you're naked" by Ida Maria, "Nobody move, nobody get hurt" by We Are Scientists and "Machinehead" by Bush. I still like all these songs but they haven't had the desired effect of firing me up and I've even found myself skipping to the next song when they've come on during recent runs.

There will no doubt be more additions and deletions in the coming weeks. Thanks to those of you who have suggested songs, if anyone else has a suggestion please feel free to leave a comment.

To the 6 Boroughs

Day:         63

Distance: 29.07km

Time:       2:33:23 secs

Calories:  2,485

It's 6:45am. It's Sunday morning. This can only mean one thing - another long run. This time the training plan specifies "150 mins easy", which I estimate to be around 29km (or 18 miles for those Imperialists amongst you). As I enjoyed last Sunday's sightseeing tour I devised a similar(ish) route which takes in even more sights and takes me through six of London's 33 boroughs.

Before I get onto the actual run I'd like to briefly discuss hydration. For these longer runs I've generally been following the advice of other runners I know which says water is fine for runs up to 60 mins, but for those longer runs (which this most certainly is) you really need a sports drink. Up until this week I've been taking Lucozade Sport out with me, but my supplies had run out so I thought I'd make some bootleg sport drink mixture based on a recipe I found here:

"Marathon Moonshine" mix (makes 500ml)

125ml Orange and Mango squash (the brand is irrelevant but avoid sugar free)

375ml water

1/8 level tsp salt

It looks quite tasty up until the addition of the salt, but I guess that's in there to replace all the salts lost through sweating. I have to say, this moonshine is actually quite tasty (it dumps on Gatorade from a great height) and after the first couple of mouthfuls I can't taste the salt any more. Which is nice.

Anyway, onto the sightseeing tour. As with last week's run, I set off from home and run alongside Peckham Rye. I realised when I got to Rye Lane that I'd left a couple of landmarks out from this section of the run last week. Fans of 80s and 90s sitcoms will be pleased to know that there is both a Nags Head and a barbers called Desmonds in SE15. I'm not sure whether this is a case of life imitating art or vice versa.

My run followed the same route as last week until I reached the end of the Old Kent Road. Instead of heading through Borough towards the Millennium Bridge I instead turn towards Tower Bridge - possibly my favourite of all London's river crossings (yep, I'm sad enough to have a favourite bridge). 

Tower Bridge at 7:30am on Sunday 20th February 2011.
You don't normally see it this empty, let me tell you.

The bridge takes me from Southwark to Tower Hamlets and past the Tower of London - a favourite tourist attraction of mine when I was young (although I haven't been there in years). As I run past the Tower I enter the boundaries of the City of London head down Tower Hill and along Lower Thames Street where I catch the briefest of glimpses of the Monument on my right hand side. This flame-topped monument to the Great Fire of London was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and tourists are able to climb to the top of it and peer out over London for a mere £3. There's no time for that now though, as I've still got 21 kilometres to get through ...

I carry on past London Bridge and Southwark Bridge and then head down towards the river just before I get to the Millennium Bridge where I take this photo of the bridge and Tate Modern.

A view of the Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern from the North Bank
of the Thames. This photo captures the less than beautiful weather I
was running in.

Pretty much as soon as the photo is taken I have to take a slight diversion away from the river due to all the work that is going on at Blackfriars at the moment. I get back onto the Thames Path just past Blackfriars Bridge. I love following the Thames' meandering path through London and as I head West it takes me into the City of Westminster past the Houses of Parliament and down into Pimlico with its lovely garden squares and beautiful Regency houses. 

Around the 14km mark I stop very briefly to take another quick photo, which I'm really pleased with as it captures three iconic London images: the red telephone box, Battersea Power Station and a row of "Boris Bikes".

For the record, I'd have much preferred it if the new
bike scheme had been introduced under the former
Mayor and were known as "Ken Cycles".

I cross back over to the South Bank via Chelsea Bridge (not one of the most aesthetically pleasing of London's bridges) and find myself in Wandsworth for the briefest of moments before turning east and heading past Battersea Dogs and Cats Home towards Lambeth. I follow the curve of the Thames over to Blackfriars Bridge where I resurface from my riverside run and head for home.

With around 5 kilometres of the run left I can really feel my legs protesting and my pace slowing. Thankfully, the running playlist comes to my rescue. Now, Steve Jobs is undoubtedly a very clever man but I'm pretty sure that ipods don't yet have the capacity to judge moods and yet when I feel at my lowest ebb it rummages around the running playlist and plucks out the Vaccines' modern classic "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)". The song has the desired effect of reinvigorating a run which was in danger of collapse and helps me bring it all back home. 

Upon arrival my legs have turned to jelly - the first time they've felt like this in the 9 weeks in which I've been training for the marathon. I also discover, upon removing my trainers, that my left foot has been bleeding quite badly and although I'm too shattered to do anything about it I'm very lucky that Varoo steps in to help me out (and listen to me moaning about how much I ache). 

This was undoubtedly a challenging, but enjoyable, run. Being able to take in the sights of old London town is always a pleasure and to do it at such an early hour means that I have them all to myself. As well as the sightseeing I'm really pleased to see that Run Keeper has recorded my average speed as 5:17 mins/km - which is slightly quicker than the time I need to average in order to reach my goal of 3:40 mins for the London Marathon. I'm also pleased to see how many calories have been burned in pursuit of these 29 kilometres. According to Guideline Daily Amounts the average male should consume 2,500 calories per day. Seeing as I've burnt off 2,485 calories with this run does this mean I can gorge myself silly all day?

Fitter, stronger

Day:         46
Distance: 9.19km
Time:       49:51 secs
Calories:  708

It's looking likely that this will be the first week in which I don't manage to fit in at least four runs. This means that I need to choose between two different types of run from the Guardian's training plan. Do I go with the "60 mins including 8 x 1 min hill climbs" or the "50 mins 10 mins steady 25 mins tempo 15 mins steady"?

I decide to go with the latter, on the assumption that the prescribed changes in tempo will be more beneficial to my fitness. I used to go to circuit training at a local gym and I always remember the trainer's insistence at these sessions that circuits "will make you fitter, they will make you stronger". While this is not circuit training, the changes in tempo mean that it's in a similar kind of ball park.

It all started so well. I was pleased to find that the heaviness in my legs that I felt on Tuesday's run was no longer there as I set off with the sound of "Bubbles" by Biffy Clyro in my ears. Run Keeper shows that in the first ten minutes I was averaging around 5:45 min/km. As dictated by the training plan, my pace quickened considerably after the first ten minutes. For the next ten minutes I was pounding the pavements at an average speed of around 4:30 per km - quite a step up from the 'steady' pace I had started with.

Everything was going swimmingly until around 4 kilometres in when I hit Chadwick Road (where I used to live, incidentally), which is basically one long hill. The two previous kilometres had been nailed in 4:41 min/km and 4:35 min/km, respectively, while the kilometre that covered Chadwick Road took around a minute longer (5:34 min/km) and this was supposed to be part of my "25 mins tempo". Even though the hill did eventually end I was unable to regain the pace that I had been running at previously and, to make matters worse, around 30 mins into the run I developed a stitch. This is the first time in nearly 7 weeks of marathon training in which I've had a stitch. I'm not sure what brought it on, but I managed to run it off after a couple of minutes.

Suffice to say, by the time I got back to the flat I was shattered and looked like an absolute sweaty mess but I think this run and, in particular, the inclusion of the hill will have really helped make me both fitter and stronger. At least, I hope it will have.

Half way there

Day:        42

Distance: 19.6km

Time:       1:57:00 secs

Calories:  1,553

It's the end of Week 6 of the training plan and this tablet of stone which I have been blindly following has gone a bit vague.

Up until today the plan has been very specific - it's "30 mins steady" here and "45 mins easy off-road/hilly" there - but all it says today is "10 mile or half marathon race". No mention of tempo and, more surprisingly, a choice between two different distances. For the sake of clarity a half marathon is 13.1 miles, which is 31% further than the other suggested distance. That's quite a difference.

To run 10 miles the week after I ran 12 miles seems somewhat counter intuitive, so I opt to follow the same route that I took this time last week. This time I was joined by Jim who will be running a half marathon in exactly 5 weeks, so it's good training for both of us.

It has been decidedly cold all week long, so it was a nice surprise to step outside today and be greeted by blinding sunlight. That's not to say that it was a hot day (it wasn't), but it was perfect weather for running. The cold helped to keep me cool and the sunshine made it feel like a real pleasure to be outside and in green spaces like Brockwell Park. I wouldn't complain if the weather was like this on the day of the actual London Marathon.

So, as I've already mentioned this run concludes the sixth week of the training plan. That means that I'm now halfway through the 12 week plan and I'm pleased to report that I'm still enjoying the training. I had thought that it was going to be a real chore. I had heard many marathon runners talking about how it takes over your life and, to an extent, I can see that as you need to put a lot of time and effort in each and every week. For example, this week I've trained on five out of the seven days and have committed nearly 5 hours to training. However, I'm managing to fit this training around the rest of my life and my wife isn't yet complaining about becoming a "marathon widow" so I wouldn't say that it's completely taken over my life. That said, whilst I'm writing this I'm also looking at the upcoming weeks and the ever increasing time commitments - so maybe I'll have changed my mind in a few weeks time.

One thing that is helping me to keep going (other than the running playlist and my desire to achieve my stated aim of completing the marathon in 3:40) is all the kind donations that I've already received on my JustGiving page. I only sent the link out on Tuesday and I'm already 27% of the way to my target of £1,000. A massive thank you to everyone who has already sponsored me and for those who would like to help me get a little closer to my target please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Darren-Yaxley-marathon. 

Friday night, Saturday morning

Day:        41

Distance: 7.64km

Time:       42:09 secs

Calories:  606

When thinking about writing this post I had "Friday night, Saturday morning" by the Specials running through my head. In particular, the lyrics "I like to venture into town/I like to get a few drinks down" and chorus which repeats the simple line "I go out on Friday night and I come home on Saturday morning" capture, pretty accurately, my Friday night. You may recall that previous Friday nights have seen me going for a run while others have been hitting the pubs and clubs of this fair land. However, you may also recall that 'Lent' is now over and as this Friday came at the tail end of January it gave me the opportunity to meet up with some of my "best good friends" (to quote Forrest Gump) and enjoy some good company, good banter, good beer and a red hot curry on Brick Lane.

Like Terry Hall in the aforementioned song, I came home on Saturday morning. Unlike Terry Hall, I had to get up at 8:30am, with a somewhat fuzzy head, in order to head out for a 40 minute run at 'easy' tempo. As I was running solo I was listening to my running playlist and, as I've mentioned before, it's just not designed for runs of this nature. I started the playlist off with Frank Turner's "The Road", which whilst not exactly plodding isn't a Ramones-esque thrash either. The tempo picked up markedly on the next song when Funeral Party's massive 2010 single "NYC Moves to the Sound of LA" kicked off with its infectious blend of bass and cow bell - this, ladies and gentlemen, is not a song you can run slowly to. Don't believe me? Listen for yourself.

I think this run has finally convinced me that if I want to listen to music whilst running (which I do) these 'easy' runs I'm going to have to set up another, slower playlist. I still want quality music that I enjoy listening to, but I'm going to have to tone down the distorted guitars and find songs with fewer beats per minute.

Take it easy

Day:        36
Distance: 6.37km

Time:       38:46 secs

Calories:  490

After running just shy of 20km yesterday I decided to follow the training plan's advice and take it easy tonight. The slight problem with doing this is that my running playlist consists mainly of up tempo guitar music that is on there to fire me up and get me running quicker. There's not a whole lot of slower numbers on there to help set the right pace for tonight's run. For a lot of the run I found myself willing the music to slow down somehow. Obviously, I didn't always have too much joy in that endeavour - even if it was possible would you want the Ramones to slow "Blitzkrieg Bop" down? (note: the correct answer to that question is an emphatic 'no').

My training plan calls for an 'easy' run at the start of each week. Up until this point I haven't really seen the need to take it that easy, but now I'm undertaking 20km+ each Sunday I think I'm going to have a few more Monday runs like this where an easy run helps me to recover from a longer run. With this in mind, I should probably consider putting together a playlist consisting of songs with fewer bpm. The problem is that I'm genuinely scratching my head as to what I can put on there - Dylan? Laura Marling? Why do I automatically think of folk-tinged music made with acoustic guitars? As with the main running playlist, I'd love to hear any suggestions of songs to set a slow, but steady pace.

On a final note, I've decided to start fundraising for Diabetes UK. I didn't want to start shaking people down for sponsorship until this point as a) it would have been ridiculously early and b) people aren't exactly flush in January. As it's now less than three months until the big day and pay cheques will shortly be finding their way into people's accounts it now feels like the right time to pass round the electronic begging bowl. If you'd like to sponsor me please visit my JustGiving site - all donations will be gratefully received!

Now that's what I call music!

Day:        35

Distance: 19.59km

Time:       1:43:14 secs

Calories:  1,514

Lent is over. We went out to meet up with some friends last night and any resolve that I had not to drink crumbled as soon as I saw the ales on offer in the East Dulwich Tavern. A man can only be so strong when faced with Tribute, Ubu Purity and Doom Bar on tap and bottles of Brooklyn Lager, Meantime and Samuel Adams chilling in the fridge. So I made it three weeks without even a snifter of alcohol, not quite what I'd intended but also not too bad either.

Knowing that I had a long run scheduled for the next morning I decided to take it pretty easy. So, why oh why did I wake up with a foggy head and a throat as dry as the Gobi desert? I'd intended on getting up and going for a run at 7:30am or thereabouts but in the event I made it out the door at 9am. Again, not quite what I'd intended but also not too bad either.

Jim wasn't available to join me for a Sunday run today, so instead of the usual discussions about football, music and runner's nipple, I had the running playlist for company. Across a total of 103 minutes of running the compilation which I have been carefully putting together over recent weeks didn't let me down once. I enjoyed a fine mixture of tunes from the Stones, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Clash amongst others but special mention must go to Idlewild and the Rakes. Allow me to explain why.

The route I took today was basically an extended version of the 3 Park Run Jim and I have done over the last couple of weeks. The route features a number of hills. The first of which hove into sight at around the 9km mark in Brockwell Park. As I approached the hill my legs were feeling somewhat sorry for themselves, but they were given a real burst of energy when Idlewild's 2009 single "Readers and Writers" burst into glorious life with its trumpet and glockenspiel propelling me up the hill with a spring in my step.

The second hill was never part of the route I had intended to run, I ad-libbed and added it in when I realised that the planned route wasn't going to last for the 100 minutes demanded by the training plan. So I found myself on Forest Hill Road - 17km into the run - staring down the barrel of another hill when the Rakes' "Strasbourg" started up with its insistent guitar riff and fantastic lyrics; "our children must have rock n' roll" indeed. Again, I found myself carried along by the simple power of rock n' roll.

I've said all along on this blog that the running playlist is an integral element of my training and that the right song played at the right time can make all the difference. Today's run provides a perfect illustration of this. Despite my wife's protests I fully intend to be running the London Marathon with my ipod strapped to my arm, so if you happen to see me cranking out an awesome riff on my air guitar or maybe singing along with some of the lyrics you'll know that I'm being treated to one of those songs that can make all the difference.

One other thing to note before I go is that this run wasn't too far off of a half marathon distance. The one and only time I've run a half marathon my legs turned to jelly as soon as I crossed the finishing line. My legs were undoubtedly aching at the end of this run, but they didn't turn to jelly and I actually felt as though I could continue running. Of course, it may well be the case that I pay the price tomorrow ... 

Thank you for the music

Day:         22
Distance: 6.55 km
Time:       34:37 secs
Calories:  504

Rarely in the field of marathon training have music and running come together in such perfect unison.

I was only supposed to be going out for a 35 minute run at an 'easy' tempo following yesterday's 17km run, but when your ipod treats you to such perfect explosions of rock n' roll as "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" by the Vaccines, "22 Grand Job" by the Rakes and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones one after the other there's no way you can settle for a slow pace. None of those songs weigh in at more than 3 minutes (in fact "Wreckin' Bar" comes and goes in just 1:24 secs), but they are exactly the kind of songs that really fire me up. I've checked Run Keeper and for the first kilometre of this run I was averaging just under 4.5 mins per km - that's the kind of speed I run at for a 10k race - and I've absolutely no doubt that this tempo was down to the urgent, punky energy of each one of those three songs.

Obviously, I can't have a 5 hour long playlist consisting solely of songs like this - for one thing I'd be shattered well before the finish line - but they play an absolutely crucial role. I can well imagine one of those songs picking me up when my energy levels and pace are dropping and today they helped me to forget about my weary legs.

Friday night's alright for running

Day:        19
Distance: 7.51 km
Time:       40:13 secs
Calories:  590

It's January and I'm off the booze. There are numerous reasons for this, including the month long liver torture that is December and a post-Christmas lack of cash. Other incentives this year are that I want to continue building on the start that I've made to my marathon training and, I have to admit, lose a few pounds.

This means that a typical Friday night at the moment consists of running a few kilometres rather than downing a few pints. No doubt, normal service will resume in due course but for the time being I'm actually enjoying the change in 'health behaviour'.

At this stage of training a 40 minute run shouldn't pose too many difficulties, but this run was a little different in that it called for 10 mins x 'steady', 20 mins x 'tempo' and 10 mins x 'steady'. By the wonders of Run Keeper I can tell you that I was averaging around 5:30-6 mins per kilometre for the two 'steady' sections, while for the 'tempo' sections of the run I averaged around 4:30-5 mins per kilometre.

The difference between my 'steady' and 'tempo' paces might not seem like all that much but running in this fashion certainly meant that at the end of the run I was shattered as I had covered the majority of the 7.5 km at 'tempo'. Normally, I get to the end of a run and feel like I could carry one but on this one I was very glad to return home.

It strikes me at this point that it has been a little while since I posted one of my running songs, so I shall do so now. But first, some background.

I hadn't thought of Sixties fetishists Ocean Colour Scene in many a year, but in the week before Christmas I was driving along listening to the radio when all of a sudden the DJ transported me back to the mid-90s with "100 Mile High City" by OCS. Ten seconds of an absolute belter of a guitar riff and the introduction of the drums was all I needed to know that this would be a most worthy addition to my running playlist. The video below isn't the best (I can't find the official video), but with a song this good that shouldn't matter. Enjoy.

Breaking in a new pair of trainers

Day:         Nine
Distance: 6.8 km
Time:       42:04 secs

Today I went for a run around my little corner of South London with my mate Jim. As Jim is training for a half marathon I suspect we'll be going out for a few more runs over the next few weeks and months.

This was my first run in the pair of trainers that I've bought specifically for running the marathon. I've had the same pair of trainers now for 2.5 years or so and they've loyally seen me through numerous 10km runs and one half marathon, so I am quite attached to them but I felt it was time to get a new pair and to wear them in properly before the marathon. After trying out a few different pairs in Sweatshop (ethically questionable name, sure, but a post-Christmas sale is not to be sniffed at in the "current economic climate") I opted for the New Balance 1064 and although it's very early days I was very impressed with them on this first run. They seemed like a very comfortable fit and, unlike others that I tried, they are very light. I'm no trainer expert, but surely those two attributes are pretty important?

Although the last few runs have been done with other people I haven't been listening to music at all, but I have been thinking about my running playlist some more. I received a few suggestions of songs to add to the list after I posted on the subject a while back and I also received some timely advice in the form of The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Leafing through this book after Christmas dinner I realised that I had some glaring omissions from my running playlist - "Suffragette City" by David Bowie, "Keep the car running" by Arcade Fire, a couple of tunes by the Buzzcocks and this work of lyrical dexterity from Dan le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip.

On running playlists

Music is a huge part of my life. A recent trawl through my Facebook status updates from 2010 suggested that music and marmite are the two things I talk about most often. That seems like a pretty fair summary.

Listening to music whilst running is one of life's pleasures. The right song at the right time can make a real difference to a run. So, with this in mind, creating a great playlist for when I'm running seemed like a crucial part of my training plan. The playlist I have at the moment features Biffy Clyro, Rage Against the Machine, AC/DC, Blur, The Ramones amongst others. The problem is that, at 2 hours in length, my playlist is no longer 'fit for purpose'. It was perfect for a half marathon, but I now need something to carry me for a full marathon.

As it's now the week before I start my 'official' training plan it seems like a good time to consider what to do with my playlist.

I thought I'd begin by having a look online for some inspiration and the first thing I found was this Runners World article. Any playlist that starts with guff like "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas isn't even worth considering. Sure, they redeem themselves somewhat by suggesting "You shook me all night long" by AC/DC, but then they go and blow it completely by recommending "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi  as a "booster" song that "personally pumps you up". Pump me up? It's more likely to wind me up.

After the Runners World debacle I visited the London Marathon website and found the Virgin London Marathon Runners Top 10 playlist. It's not as bad as the Runners World article, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I run to the sound of "Eye of the Tiger". They've also suggested a Black Eyed Peas song. How is this in anyway helpful?

The Marathon website also has famous athletes' playlists. Liz McColgan's is just horrible - two Daniel Merriweather songs is surely two Daniel Merriweather songs too many. Iwan Thomas's is okayish and I think I'll borrow "House of Jealous lovers" by the Rapture from him. Veronique Marot (who?) put together an interesting list with Nirvana and Radiohead featuring, but "All Apologies" off of In Utero is in no way a song to run to. The best of the lot is by someone called David Bedford and features The Who, The Kinks and Blur among others. Having read this I can't believe my playlist doesn't already include "My Generation" or "You really got me". I'll be rectifying this sorry state of affairs shortly.

I then turned to a Guardian article written by two marathon runners. It gets off to a good start:

Music is my constant companion when I run. It is there urging me forward when things get tough. It is there to put a smile on my face when the rain beats down and the wind steals my breath. And it is there to frame the sudden rushes of elation on those days when the blue skies and country views make me wonder why the whole world isn't outside running too. First comes a decent pair of shoes, and second comes a decent soundtrack

At last! A kindred spirit. His playlist is even pretty good and features RATM and Arctic Monkeys. He's mentioned some others that I'm less familiar with - Decemberists, Cold and the Mountain Goats - but seeing as how we're pretty much running soul mates I'm going to investigate his suggestions ...

The second writer includes the Jam's "Town called Malice" on her playlist, which is a good idea and another one I'm going to borrow. She ruins it though by including Bon Jovi and annoys me by getting the title of the Killer's "Human" wrong.

So, after visiting three sites I have a grand total of four songs to add to my playlist. Not a great success rate given that I reckon I'll need somewhere in the region of 5 hours' worth of music in total. Evidently, relying on the internet isn't an option, so I'm hoping that if anyone actually reads this they might suggest some songs or bands that are going to give me the boost I need when I really need it.

WANTED: Inspired suggestions for my running playlist. Bon Jovi need not apply!