Monday 29th November - Long runs are for Sundays.
17.4 Kms ? - 1 hour 41 mins 48 seconds

Stepping foot outside the door for a long run after having worked a full physical labour isn't the easiest of things to do. I noticed myself creating extra little jobs that had to be done before I could go out. I knew from the start it wasn't going to be a "full" long run as to attempt the 27kms that had been planned for Sunday would have alerted the little men in white coats to my presence. Even so it took a lot of effort to get out. But it had to be run, the one run you are not meant to miss is the weekly long run, and I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had allowed myself to wimp out.

Once on the move it wasn't so bad. I just kept breaking the route down into smaller sections and telling myself once you have completed this part you will feel happier, before moving onto the next little section and repeating until I found myself stumbling back to my front door. Not the greatest run in the world but it was done. To look on the bright side it was a new route so I guess I can claim a new PB as well.

As for today I have moved my rest day forward one day. Listen to your body they say. Well I have and the language it was coming out with would have turned the air blue. So body and mind have compromised and we will be back on the road again tomorrow.

Sunday 28th November - No go in the snow.
9 Kms ? - 52 mins 21 seconds - 5m 49s per km

This was meant to be my long run for the week. I set out of the door planning to run 27kms but came back having only achieved 9. So what went wrong? Hopefully this doesn't sound like a feeble excuse, but it snowed on a weekend. Had it been a weekday all kinds of folk would have been jumping onto snowploughs clearing the way. As it was only the areas deemed most necessary were cleared and that means the main roads. I tried to do my long run all the same but it was like running on a beach with fine grain sand. As it was my legs were exhausted when I came back. I will not attempt to do my long run/cut back long run this afternoon when I return from work. I must be mad.

Saturday 27th November - Gentle evening recovery.
10.81 Kms - 59 mins 14 seconds - 5m 29s per km

Its official I am in. The pack has arrived so no need to worry if I had written a cheque, promtly forgotten about it and then confused it with the marathon cheque. So I now know that I will be wearing number 10219 accross my chest and starting at the blue start come April. All this on the same day that Ipswich go top of the Championship, sometimes life can be sweet.

Friday 26th November - Caught outside with my trousers down.
10.81 Kms - 50 mins 36 seconds - 4m 41s per km

Today was one of those days when I really didn't feel like going out for a run. To be honest the whole week has felt much the same. If I had to rate my chances of getting out of the door it would have been at best 50/50. As it happens I am so glad I did, some of the most enjoyable runs are those when really I didn't want to go out but made myself make the effort all the same. As an extra bonus I even managed my second best time for the route, which isn't bad considering having to be a little bit careful due to the snow and to slow down to rearrange my running bottoms a few times.

It was about 20 mins into the run I start to notice the top of my backside getting cold. Not so surprising I guessed, it was minus 10 after, odd that it was just the top section of my bum but still. Then the cold started to creep downwards keeping in a straight line like a cold front. It took a while to realise that my long johns were falling down. (Okay so they may not be the height of fashion but you would have to be a real fashion victim not to have a pair here and whos to know apart from when they start falling down and you have to keep on yanking when back up while trying to keep running)

In the end I gave up trying and just let them fall and this probably had the side effect that today's good time was probably due to not wishing to freeze my butt off. It was probably also due to have someone on a push bike about 50 meters ahead of me during the last section of the course and me trying to catch and overtake them. In the end the inconsiderate biker choose to take a different route but it was good fun while it lasted.

Last week I was pondering over whether I was running my long runs too fast or that my target time was set a little bit on the light side. I couldn't make my mind up so I decided to plug my best race times for the half marathon and 10kms into the numerous marathon finish time predictors to see if that would give any indications. These predictors of course are an oversimplification to which I bring 2 extra limitations to.

(a)They are based on having the same level of training for the distance being predicted and the data race that it is based on. I clearly haven't the same condition when it comes to 26 miles as I would have for a half let alone 10kms. 10kms is an everyday run and a half marathon is run (plus a little bit more) every week in the form of the long run. I have yet to run a full marathon from start to finish.

(b) I haven't actually run that many races to base the predictions on. I have only really started racing since my school days after moving to Sweden. Living outside the major cities with only public transport to rely on my choice of races has been very short. I have therefore only raced one half marathon back in 2003 and 3 10km races. Two of these however were cross country style and rambling tree routes had to be avoided.

So there we go, the predictors have flaws and the data being feed into them isn't the best either, but its just a bit of fun. My Pbs are 1h44m55s for the half and 41m16 set last last for the 10km. I tried 6 different calculators and the results were pretty much the same from all of them. Based on my 10km time the results suggest if I was fully trained I could finished somewhere between 3:09.50 to 3:14.01 and my half marathon time suggests a finish between 3:40.41 to 3:43.20. The truth probably somewhere between the two. The results came out a tad faster than that I was expecting but I have been factoring in the unknown training levels over the Swedish winter which of course the predictors cannot take into account.

So that's whats possible all I have to do now is get out there and train. Thankfully the chickens were not counted to early last Thursday A new weekly total record was recorded Last week and my most run in a single week is now 49.5 miles. I plan to level out at this volume of training over the near future with the only real difference being a extension to the long run of about 1 or 2 kilometers every second week. Now if only this week was going so well...

update: I have added a page of links to the predictors I used in case you would like to do a similar excercise

It seems there are plenty of running blogs out there, you just have to know where to find them. This directory would appear to be a very good place to start.

Its official winter has arrived with a bang. One of the neighbouring towns, Hedemora received around 50cms of snow just on Thursday! If you think you vaguely reconise the town name it might be because you watched the BBC's "Get a new Life" when a Scottish fireman and his family moved to Sweden. It is his new hometown that had the one powder dumped from above on it, just have to wonder if he is still wandering around in a t-shirt.

luckily it is was just localised and here we received a measly 2cms. It did mean however I had a chance to try out the new icebugs and so far so good. 7kms run and I never felt like I was going to slip or fall. The studs while noticeable were never uncomfortable and my feet felt fine at the end of the run. The real test will come when the snow starts to melt and then refreezes, then the true value of the icebugs will be found out.

Having worked last Sunday, today was given as a day off so I rescheduled my long run for today. Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. However despite clear blue skies today's midday sun only managed to "warm" the air to between minus 8 and minus 10 while I was out running. The advice I have heard from the locals is that training is fine as long as the temperature doesn't go below 15 degrees. So there you go, if you are marathon training in England I don't what to hear you moaning it was too cold to go out from a run.

There is no wrong weather just the wrong clothes. Bearing this old saying in mind thermal trousers under my normal tracksuit bottoms, a moisture wicking t-shirt under both a ski-ing polo shirt and tracksuit top and gloves were the order of the day. All topped off with a bobble hat. These hats are probably the most important part of a Swedes running gear. In my wide ranging in-depth study I have noticed that the faster runners all have their bobbles (some even have two) dangled from the top of their hats on a length of wool. My wife brought me a hat with the bobble firmly attached at the hats summit.

The run itself passed without much of notice. At 26kms or 16.25 miles it was one of the longer runs that I have ever attempted. Apart from the last mile where my legs were starting to feel tired I was more than happy with how it went. I think also that may have been partly a mental struggle and my legs were not really as tired as my mind was trying to tell me they were. I kept the pace slow and had an energy gel and a few dried figs to help keep the body willing during the final stages and it seemed to help. I think I still have to work on keeping my pace down a bit during my long runs as it is out of sink with my target marathon time or maybe I should think about re-assessing my target time. It all depends on which way you look at it I suppose. Anyway 2 more days of the week to go and if the planned runs are achieved this will be my highest weekly total to date. The words counting, chickens, and hatched spring to mind but fingers crossed...

Winter is looming. The weatherman has forecast 20cms of snow to arrive on Friday. So they may be wrong, but it is only just a matter of time now. Snow and ice will arrive, but come April so will the London Marathon, so as the saying goes, the training must go on. Slipping over on the ice and breaking a leg doesn't sound like my idea of a good idea so I decided to splash out on a new pair off running shoes, Icebugs "Developed and tested in Sweden, fit to go anywhere" or so they say on the box. Each sole has 17 small metal studs to grip into the ice as well as the grip found on a standard sole. If there is no ice or compacted snow for the metal studs to grip into they are meant to be absorbed into the rubber sole, how well that works in practice I have yet to find out but that's the theory.

Winter is fast heading to this corner of Sweden. We woke up this morning to sheets of ice covering the roads and a heavy frost showing on the lawn. Hardly the ideal day for a long run. If it were not for the fact that I am due to work tomorrow I would have happily swapped the planned runs around and head out for a long run on Sunday, as it was I just had to make the best of it.

By the afternoon the worst of the ice had melted away leaving just small sections which could be carefully avoided. I decided that if I could run the majority of the route on gravel paths a run was still possible as long as I was careful. An ideal that sounded great in theory but wasn't so practical when trying to link 20 plus kilometers of gravel tracks together. There was no way to avoid the inevitable, it was going to have to be several laps of a lake on a lighted exercise route on the edge of town.

It wasn't really the best of runs, the route was slightly more hilly than what I am used to for a long run and started with a long uphill slog. I think the start effected my mood more than I realised and that was even before I started the monotony of running the same section of track again and again. It was probably still a good workout despite being shorter than last week long run, but in terms of enjoyment it wasn't good at all. Hopefully I can work out some new routes so I can avoid having to do more routes in this in the future, but hey, its done and logged so it isn't all bad.

Lessons learnt from this weeks long run

• I don't like running laps. One or two I could maybe cope with but today's seven was really starting to get to me.
• A running jacket will fill with wind and act as a sail pushing you backwards while running against the wind but doesn't seem to be so helpful when running in the opposite direction.
• A proper visit to the toilet before a run isn't an optional extra, my apologies to anyone in the vicinity of my foul odours during todays run. Luckily I didn't see many people at the lake today, or maybe they just stayed long enough to smell the air before heading straight back home again.

I have had a slight case of the guilt of the long distance runner. Due to my wife and myself both working shifts we can at times be like ships that pass in the night. Usually this fits in well with my running, but there are other times when it feels like I am sacrificing our time together for my own selfish activities. It does not help that quite often my work will leave me so tired that at some point without warning I can find myself falling from a sitting position to a half hanging off the sofa and probably dribbling just to make it an even more appealing sight.

My wife has been wonderful about my absence and says that if I am going to do something crazy like run another marathon then of course I have to train and to just get out there. It can be hard enough to fit all of the planned runs in some weeks but I dread to think what it would be like to try and train without a supportive partner. I Know one weakness I have is how quickly I can press the self destruct button on a training schedule. One planned run missed can lead to a domino effect where two or three more follow. The strange logic that seeing as I have missed one run maybe it wouldn't matter so much if I missed another one. I am so lucky in having an understanding wife that isn't going to say couldn't you give tonight's run a miss and is much more likely to give me a kick up the backside if I try and come up with a feeble excuse as to why I think it might be okay to miss a run.

Race day may be an individual event but training definitely has aspects of a team sport.

The first week off training since I found out I had a place in the marathon is over and I wont pretend that it has been easy. There have been two or three times when really I didn't fancy placing a foot outside the door and the odd moment while actually running when I was considering the whole idea as being completely daft. Luckily my heart won over my brain and 73 kilometers or 45.6 miles have been completed since last Monday.

But of course it is daft, trying to squeeze in the maximum amount of training but the onset of winter could not be described as anything different. Coming back from a hard day at work and turning straight back out of the door again for a run is a perfectly good reason for the funny looks from non runners. The first flutters of snow cannot be too far away but hopefully running until the end of December will not cause too many problems. After which a combination swimming, expat style cross country skiing and gym work will be the order of the day. With any luck I should be able to be running outside again but having to start to taper but the quantity and quality all depends on the weather.

What lies in future in terms of my training is still uncertain but week one has in retrospect been a good one. There may have been times when I didn't want to run, but I did all the same. There have been chances to skip a section or not run the extra loop of the lake, but I ran them all the same. Daft it may be, but being able to say that I didn't cheat on myself makes it all worth while and something that I can be proud of, heres to a second week of the same.

There's nothing like being organised, and sadly no matter how hard I try I am nothing like organised. I go through phases were I will make lists of what needs to be done, with the full intention of crossing items of as I go along but I soon lose interest and go back to my haphazard ways. I thought however I had the yearly event of "Mass hysterically checking of bank accounts to see if the people at the London Marathon have cashed your cheque" or "MHCOBATSITPATLMHCYC" for short? sorted this time around.

For those of you not in the know, the London Marathon is many times over subscribed, unless you can run under 3 hours (for a male of my age) you are considered to have about a 1 in 4 chance of getting a place. They officially inform you if you have been one of the luckily ones in December but experience says if your cheque is cashed a week after the closing date your in.

Anyway back to MHCOBATSITPATLMHCYC. Last year I had set up an internet banking account so I could check instantly if I had been granted a place. Smart. I was just as clever with my passwords, I didn't want to use my generic passwords, access to my financial information had to be a little tougher to access so two total new passwords were created. I am sure you can see where this is going, a year on and I haven't a clue what the passwords are. 3 guess and you are locked out, please phone this number to confirm you identity and we will provide you access once more. How annoying.

So the number is called and the guy at the other end start reeling off his script, can you confirm your full name and the reference number we gave you when you screwed up last time... I am sorry Mr FakeSwede but it appears no transaction have taken place in the last month for me to be able to confirm your identity, you have two choices either you can use your card and phone back at a latter date, or we can send you a letter to take to your local branch, which option would be best for you? Seeing as my local branch is a short plane trip away I decide a purchase on the card is called for. I know I have £29.16 in the account and that the cheque to the marathon is 27 pounds so I have just over two pounds to spend. A packet of polos it is then, slightly embarrassing it use a debit card of such a small sum, especially when the magnetic strip cant be read and the numbers have to be typed in, but needs must.

I rush home clutching my till receipt and rephone the bank "can you confirm your full name and the reference number we gave you when you screwed up last time... I am sorry Mr FakeSwede but it app..." but what about the packet of polos? ohh it takes 3 to 4 working days for those th show. Nothing to do but wait for Monday by which time the cheques will have been cashed for the lucky ones.

Monday takes a long time in arriving, but finally i get the chance to phone. A truly bored script reader answers and the usual blurbed is spoken but this time transactions have been taking place, thank you polos.

"Can you tell me the value of cheque number 98?"
"27 pounds"
"Thank you, and can you tell me what your overdraft limit is please?"
"I have an overdraft? you mean i didn't have to embarrass myself in front of a queue of people being a packet of polos on a debit card what didn't want to work?"
"We can move onto the next question if you prefer?"
"I think it would be for the best"
"..... Okay Mr FakeSwede, what I going to do is send you a letter in the post. You need to take this letter to your local branch where they can confirm your identity"
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhh!!!!!!"

After an hour of stomping around trying to work out which question or questions I had answered incorrectly it suddenly dawned on me. How did she know about cheque number 98? There could only be one reason, because it had been cashed. Doom and gloom changed into bouncing around the apartment with a stupid grin all over my face. I was in, I will be running the London Marathon of the 17th of April 2005.