Two weeks ago I was down in the doldrums running-wise ... two weeks on and I'm flying high!

The week didn't start well as I was at Wembley (great stadium) to see Reading lose 2-4 to Swansea. That's 3 play-off finals I've been to now and 3 defeats. It certainly wasn't much fun sat in a 3-hour traffic jam heading out of London towards the M4 surrounded by many jubilant (some abusive) Swansea fans!

My 2 mile recovery run on Tuesday went without a hitch but I was still feeling slightly apprehensive about my 5 mile tempo run on Thursday. I was aiming for 3 miles at 9:50 pace sandwiched between warm-up and cool-down miles and clocked 9:46, 9:40, and 9:46 for a really enjoyable run. I was fairly cream-crackered for my warm-down mile, mind you, jogging back in 11:40 for that final mile. Still, a really pleasing run that finally convinced me that I can push hard and the calf will survive intact.

Friday and Saturday was not much fun. After 11 months working from home, I gave in to my wife's demands (or was an ultimatum?) and got started on decorating the dining room. Now my wife and I are poles apart in our approach to work - I'm Mr Pernickety Perfect and she's Mrs Slap Dash (can you tell my bias?!) so it's true to say we don't make the best of partnerships. It's been nearly 20 years since we last decorated a room together ... I think it'll be much longer before we do it again...

So it was quite a relief when Sunday arrived and it was time for a 6 mile LSR. The plan was to run at an even 11:15 pace or thereabouts but after completing the first mile in 11:14 (damn that extra second!) I found myself running successively faster miles of 11:02, 10:52, 10:46, 10:45, and 10:38 to finish in 1:05:17. I was tired at the end and certainly slept well last night and maybe I shoulde have held back a tad but it just felt right ... and finally, finally I feel like I'm on the way to recovering my fitness ... just like you all said I would.

Next week is a repeat week of last week ... assuming my wife hasn't pasted me to the wall!

Enjoy your running!