Jumpin' Januaries, Batman!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

MLCM, that's a truly stonking monthly total, well done. I'm very impressed by your dedication to the dawn sorties. It sounds indeed like you're due a gentle week to rest that calf.

Out of interest, as you are talking pace... did your 17k come in much slower than the preceding 8 and 9? How do the numbers stack up for your sub-2 target?

Ta, Dan. It came out of necessity, it must be said - if I didn't run early, I would have ended up having an abysmal running month, so it was that or nothing. And EG's Le Jog idea has really helped too - plotting progress on a map is so much better and far more motivating than a dull old spreadsheet.

As for pace, even with the walk breaks my average kilometre pace for the 17km was 6:15, compared to the 5:42-5:43 I've been managing on the 8 and 9km runs. So I'm not unhappy with it, but still have some way to go yet. Sub-2hr half mara pace is 5:41...

The calf is much better today, so one more rest day tomorrow and I should be right as rain - that will be my first pair of consecutive rest days in 5 weeks, so well-earned and can only help. The other good news is that the bunion-like growth on my right heel has started shrinking, so I think it was just a pressure thing caused by a combination of new shoes and new orthotics.

All in all, MLCM is travelling OK.