A tough 17.5 miles

I dragged myself out this morning, with my legs complaining they didn't want to go, and ran 17.5 miles in 2 hours 34 minutes.

Disappointing, as I'd hoped to do 18 miles in about 2.24, but my legs were aching all the way round and they really didn't like the hilly bits, which rather slowed me down.

Even on the relatively flat course, I climbed 1,295 feet, which is rather more than I'm expecting to have to manage in London. As I also dropped 1,283 feet, I averaged 8.48 per mile pace - which is good enough to get me in under the Marathon target of 3 hours 40.

So I'll have a few days rest before the next run, to let my little legs recover. Though with bad weather forecast, limiting my exercise to dog-walking, table tennis, and using the exercise bike might not be such a bad thing.

Don't ever think that marathon training is easy. It isn't. There's lots of days I'd rather give the training a miss - it's just too much like hard work!