11 Day Countdown!

Thats how long I have to get from 10 miles to 26.2 for London Marathon. Factor in a bit of taper and my days are numbered.
After last weeks return to running and the associated thigh ache my next outing was just the confidence boost I needed. Friday morning 7am Sutton Park with #TNSG aka @jwultra @ajh1269 @madot1 @jules_perox. Freezing temperatures meant I had to scrape the car but the sun was coming up a treat. It was a good run at about 10 mins/mile pace which was perfect as I try and increase distance for VLM. I picked the brains of these Ultrarunners, TiT's and Outlaws. They run with a smile and have a laugh all the way round which is how running should be. TNSG are awesome (their words ;-) ), they do things like run 30 mile Ultra races twice in 2 days just because a friend cant make the scheduled race day, they recount training accidents (such as when @madlot1 's mate fell of his mountain bike and @madlot1 didnt even stop), they constantly rib each other about the lovely views and how each of them is more awesome than the other. They run for fun (if thats possible). As a consequence the run flies by. Even had a chance to stop for a breather (something I should get used to for VLM/Outlaw) after chasing @jules_perox up the hill section from the rail tracks to the golf course. I was left in his dust but it was good to put a fast section in there to test the legs and heart! Ankle seemed fine and back fine. Thighs fine and it felt like I had plenty left in me (as I will need to have!). Sadly @ajh1269 has had to pull out of VLM due to injury and none of them are doing Outlaw this year. I was hoping for friendly words of encouragement as they lap me in these events but instead I may well have 'AWESOME' written somewhere to give me a boost. TNSG team -

My ankle slowly became more painful throughout the day so I bought a support bandage. This seems to help and I tested it on a run yesterday. A solo 10 miler again at almost exactly 10 mins/mile. I deliberately tried to go slow/steady to get distance in without any problems. I had to stop and lie down at about 5.5 miles to clear a bout of the stitch. It worked a treat. The run went well and the only after effects are the ankle. I have decided to ignore it. I have booked a 'repair' sports massage for tomorrow night to try and overcome the niggles, I have booked a 'prepare' massage pre VLM to give the legs the best chance of doing 26.2 and I have booked a 'recovery' massage for after VLM to speed up my recovery so I can get some intensive work in for Outlaw. Lets hope it helps.
I am planning on organising a sweepstake on my VLM finishing time. Probably gonna be £2 a go with the winner getting a games console. Details to follow but should have it sorted by the weekend.
In other news I have withdrawn from the JOG - LE relay cycle due to Guinness Records shifting the goal posts and the new challenge simply being too much for the novice cyclist that I am. I do wish them all the luck in the world with it though and I hope they can stick a finger up at Guinness when they finish. Also I am now at 492/2012 for @2012milesin2012 and unconnected my eye has done this -

Finally by way of a lurgy update I have now finished treatment and should see the specialist in 6 weeks hopefully for the all clear. Its looking much improved but still stings occasionally and throbs when running but nothing of concern.
I'm off to stress about when, how far, how hard I should train over the next 11 days. Next blog should include VLM morph. Cheers all the best.
PS good luck to everyone running Paris,Brighton,Manchester mara's. In fact good luck to everyone pushing themselves beyond limits!