I look back and laugh at my optimism when I started writing this blog. A marathon in under 3 hours? Really Martin? A few dreams from a (slightly) overweight Englishman!

That was a bit optimistic, but I still feel it is possible, but it will take some years to get there. And I will need to take a continuous look at my lifestyle. However I do feel happier when I can run (and am not injured) so it seems a good direction to aim for. Running those longer distances certainly relieves stress.

I also want to focus on other things as well, running like crazy and getting injured is no fun, far better to be running slowly than not running at all.

Anyway, I have a feeling of progress at the moment. The runs are getting longer and I feel able to try out terrain runs again. It was terrain runs that caused my injuries before.

It seems that several small things are making a difference. Maybe it is the insert the podiatrist gave me in my right running shoe. Maybe it is the exercises - particularly stretching that hamstring. Maybe it is the fact I have slowed down on my runs. Maybe it is changing from cushion shoes to support shoes. Maybe it is that I am doing more runs, but smaller runs. Maybe it is that I started swimming some big distances recently. Maybe the new running style matters - in fact I am sure that helps.

I had a bit of a shock recently. I was in Slovakia training, and was talking to a colleague and it came up that he ran marathons. After a while I asked him what time he did his last marathon; in 2:44 he said. I was shocked and swore out loud; that is a serious time, and he said he can go faster. He is a serious triathlete apparently - particualrly a swimmer. It makes me think about triathlons again for other reasons. He also said the furthest he ran before the marathon was 24km - hey I've just done that :)

It makes me think that I should probably focus more on the swimming, I guess that helps core muscles, but also the breathing. Does swimming help with VO2 uptake?

Next major target is the Vienna marathon. Comparing to last year, I am in great shape - I am 6-8 weeks ahead of where I was last year in preparation, and I think I will likely aim for 3:20 - assuming I can avoid injuries. I also hope I can lose a bit more weight - I am 181cm, and am 78-80 kg - I'd like to get down to 75kg or so I think.

The bigger issue though is that I slowly need to get back into intervals and tempo runs, I need to be able to up the speed. But I should have patience and be sure not to push too fast too soon, things are progressing nicely....

Thanks for reading, and have a good holiday season, and don't eat and drink too much! :)