Last run til the gun

Got up this morning for a short run. It was bloody chilly at 7 degrees. I donned gloves for the first time this winter, even though it is not yet winter. Didn't bother with the heart rate monitor as I wasn't going far. I mainly wanted to practice running at marathon pace. Ran a 1.12 km warm up loop, then had a short break before setting off on a 3.3 km loop. I felt I was running it fairly hard, perhaps even a little bit fast, but the average time was 4:21/k apparently. The loop has only been measured by the Google Map pedometer thing. I know that thing might have some inaccuracy, but I doubt it is the 200 m that it would need to be for that time to equate to 4:07/km pace. I then ran another 1.12 km loop (as measured by the pedometer) and it was clocked at 4:12/km pace. So that's a bit better, but still slightly slow.

I suppose it was too early and the course too tortuous and inaccurate for a really decent pace run. But there it is. I guess the good news is that the leg niggles and pains have all but vanished. I slept well last night. I don't have a cold bearing down on me. There were some very light twinges in and around the hips during yesterday's run, more the right than the left, but I can't see anything that will be factor in the race. Of course they'll get sore, but so will my quads and lower back and God only knows what else. But there is nothing there to think I could break down or become unduly hindered. So now it is all just rest and hydration and carb loading and preparing drink bottles and writing out splits and packing and driving and running. No excuses.

Will try to work out how to send a post by email from someone's mobile phone on Wednesday. So let me just finish this post with a number. A number that can be compared with the very first entry of the next post. The number is the time that I hope to achieve. Anything below it will be a bonus. The magic number is:

2:55:00