Four more of these and we're there...

Ran 7 miles in 52 minutes flat today. It was my last chance to do some running for a few days as we’re visiting family, so I was determined to put in a run that I would be contented with until the next one. The first two miles were a bit of a warm-up write-off, but overall I am pleased with how everything went. Towards the end I had to alter my stride and take smaller but faster steps to encourage myself to keep going, and that seemed to work. I finished with a heart rate of about 170bpm, but within 90 seconds it was back down to 120bpm. That has happened consistently for some time now, and it got me thinking: if I can run 7 miles and get some breaks every hour, and feel rested, then I could try to do a few sets of 7 miles and eventually a marathon under 4 hours.

Don’t be fooled by the numbers. If you multiply my 10K or half-marathon times you would conclude a sub-4 marathon is no problem, but that doesn’t take into account the muscle fatigue that occurs between 21 and 42K. (Well, mine anyway.) The ideal thing would of course be to do the long runs, and build up to that distance, but I do want to save my ailing knees. If I ever had to make a black and white choice between running a marathon and affecting my knees further, or saving them and live with the dissatisfaction of not having ever done a marathon, there is no question about it. I can live with naysayers, but it's going to be hard, when I'm older, to hobble around with a cane and feel like a winner.

The hourly exercises seem to be working. Especially the abs. I felt strong, and also felt like I ran better because of the exercises. If I develop a bit more muscle and have enough surface area maybe I should get a tattoo...? Question is, what should it be of, and where should I put it?