In the beginning.

If you've come this far, it means that you have most probably done one of two things:

1. Read all of the (hopefully entertaining) posts above in reverse order to find out how the story began.
2. Scrolled down to the bottom to see how the story began because of some kind of possibly perverse need to see things in order.

Either way, I have to say - thank you, but, really? It's probably not that interesting.

The title of my blog is 'From Nobby Beach to Nea Bakri', which is because I am hoping by the end of 2010, to have run two marathons. Which is two more than I have currently run. I am hoping to run the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in July (hence Nobby Beach), and then run the 2500th anniversary Athens Marathon in late October (and Nea Bakri). Neither of those places are major markers on either of the marathons, I'm just a big fan of alliteration in titles.

I hope to list my trials and tribulations here in this blog, tracking the ups and downs of the experience, so that at the end I can select all of the entries, paste them into a Word document and print them off to be placed in a box somewhere at home. Don't ask me why I don't just write into a Word document. I wanted to start a blog, ok?

I began running in earnest last week to prepare, about 16 weeks or so out from the Gold Coast. While it may seem a short preparation period, I felt I had a pretty good base, since I have just returned from time spent hiking in the Himalayas, so it's not like I've been sitting at home eating potato chips.

I ran about 15km last weekend, and I've done two 40 minute sessions over the last two days. I ran 7.8km for both runs, and felt pretty good, though not great. One involved a PB for 5km (25:20), which I was very proud of this morning. I'm hoping to crack 25 minutes for 5km, so I'm pretty close.

I also want to document an injury watch - I've had problems with possible compartment syndrome in the past, so I want to keep an eye on it. I figure this is a good way. This morning's run was pretty good (a rare occurance), although I am very tight in the hamstrings and calves, so I may head off and get a massage later this week. I also have a blood blister under my right foot, middle toe-nail, which has actually grown so big that it is peeking out of the side of my toe-nail. My wife, Ellie popped it for me last night and put some disinfectant on it. Now that, my friends, is love.

Well, I think this will suffice for the time being. I have a rest day tomorrow, then 50 minute run on Friday to round the working week out. I feel great, I'm loving the run, and feel confident that I can pull this off. For now.