Long Overdue Update

As Julie has mentioned to me several times, I haven't been updating my blog recently.  This hasn't been because of any falling-off-the-wagon or somesuch.  Nope, still proudly plant-powered, going as strong as ever.

Wales:  Hot, hilly, hard.

It also isn't because of a lack of athletic endeavours either.  I ran the Wales Marathon, finishing a respectable 21st place out of 287 finishers. I also ran did the 5 mile National Lottery Anniversary Run, getting a handy-dandy 413th out of 11,841 people.  Both were challenging events, Wales due to the heat and hills, the Anniversary Run due to the speed required and the fact it was a week after Wales.

So why haven't I rushed off to Blogger to write down a detailed blow by blow of my events?  I've thought about this a bit, and I think it is primarily because I didn't learn anything from my diet that I thought interesting enough to share with others.  No secrets to vegan fuelling (unless "enough Clif Shot Bloks over a 3 hour period to make you want to be ill" counts as advice) and no sage-like knowledge on how avocados can help you push through "the wall" and reach your goals.

Why this post at all then?  Well, in retrospect I did learn some non-foodie things that may be worth sharing, namely:

• 600 metres of elevation over 26.2 miles isn't much for some, but it was enough to destroy me completely. If the course description says "hilly" then do some proper damn training on hills beforehand you nonce.
• If you are entering a race with nearly 12,000 people, some of whom who have never run 5 miles before, get as far to the front as you can. Otherwise you will be stuck for over a mile trying to get past the agonisingly slow bastards who assume 10 minute miles is "pretty fast".
• Much of running a race, regardless of distance, that is run at your maximum effort is mental.  Not 10%, not even 50%, probably closer to 80% of it is in your head.  If you let the devil on your shoulder convince you for 1 second that you "don't have to do this you know" or that "maybe you could walk this bit" you are toast.  The little bugger won for a bit in Wales, but with the help of another runner I was able to block him out and salvage the performance I owed myself.
• High-5'ing Paula Radcliffe while running in the Olympic Stadium is awesome.  Highly recommended should the opportunity present itself to you.
• The quote "Living well is the best revenge" from George Herbert, English poet and orator, is quite applicable to vegans.  Most people find it difficult to be critical of my lifestyle when I'm clearly quite fit. Saves quite a lot of time and somewhat pointless discussion really.

What's next then?  I have a 10k race on Sunday, which I'm going to try and pace myself to a 41 to 42 minute finish (crowds permitting). I'd like to get under 40 minutes, but I'm not quite there yet I don't think. After that my next race is the Nike Run to the Beat half marathon, which I'll be angling for a PB at.

Let's see how it all goes.

Sucker for Punishment

I have 2 weeks to go until my Wales marathon.  I'm feeling pretty good about it, my training has been going well and I feel pretty strong. Only issues are a niggle with my right foot and some reoccurring blisters. I probably won't beat my Edinburgh time since the course is so hilly, but I'll see what I can do.  I really would like to to nail 3:15, but I'm not sure that my fitness is up to that level without a flat course.  I'll give it my best though ;)

Training continues, even through the ever rainy British summer

On the diet front I've really been neglecting myself.  I've always tried to explain to people that the central part of a vegan diet is to eat more vegetables.  Vegetables are awesome, varied and packed full of nutrients, yet I've forgotten my own advice and been neglecting them.  I had a low point earlier this week where I really felt crappy, a low energy vibe that I haven't felt since going plant powered.  The good news is I recognised the issue and a daily dose of quality veg has turned things around before it became a problem.

Listen to your mum folks - eat your vegetables!

Next up is some exciting news. I've been looking for the next challenge, something that is both scary and exciting, to get me motivated and pushing forward.  Today I signed up for two new events that I think fit that description (and then some) perfectly:

• April 2014 - South Downs Way 50 mile ultra marathon
• May 2014 - Thames Path 100 mile ultra marathon

I've signed up for both.  Madness! More news as it breaks...

Edinburgh Marathon

Two weeks ago I successfully ran the Edinburgh Marathon in a fairly respectable time of 3:22:22.  I have sat down a couple of times and tried documenting my thoughts and experiences from the day, but each time I drew a blank.  I think I needed some time to get some perspective on the experience and mentally digest the challenge as a whole.

Running past Arthur's Seat early in the race

Running Vegan
Since I set up this blog to talk about going vegan and how it has affected my build up to marathoning, it seems appropriate to start with diet.  I've written a couple of times before about the various good and bad aspects of eating a plant based diet, so I'll try to avoid covering old ground here.  In relation to the marathon I can say that I went in feeling strong (having just recovered from a cold), was able to stay strong throughout the race (mostly, the end part was a bit of a push) and my recovery was surprisingly quick. 

I put much of this down to my diet allowing me to stay healthy, fuelling me for the day and giving my body all the goodies it needs to put me back together again after the race.  While I obviously could achieve this with any moderately healthy diet, I think the no-meat approach significantly heightened the degree at which I was able to prepare, perform and recover. 

Has vegan eating been the principle driver behind feeling great and performing well? Or was it just the extra exercise making the difference?  Since I still feel really good even when I have taken a break from running (such as when I had my calf issue) I'm going to go with the diet being the root of all my mental and physical improvements. Of course nothing works in isolation, but I consider it a solid foundation for all my other endeavours.

Home stretch, sprint finish

About the Race
Finally, just a few words about the race itself.  If you are considering a marathon, I can highly recommend Edinburgh's event. It is well organised, has great scenery, is relatively flat and had good support for much of the route.  I'm really glad I picked a good first marathon race, since I'm now all psyched for my next one. Bring on Wales in July!

Ready... Set...

So, as I sit here writing up this post I'm dressed in my running kit, ready to go out for my final pre-marathon run.  Sunday is the big day, looming large in my thoughts. Did I train enough? Will I perform on the day? What if it rains? What sort of maniac goes vegan and trains for his first marathon at the same time?

It is at this important juncture I need to stop and just ask myself the most important question... What would a real Aussie think when presented with a proper challenge?

She'll be 'right mate.

Damn right it will.  Don't you think so too Paul?

Pretty sure Paul is with me on this one

So, time to just suck it up and see how I go.  People do these things in their 70s or in absurd costumes, I should be fine with my normal run gear and oh-so-masculine pink race vest from Breast Cancer Care. 

Rockin' the vest!

Did I mention I'm running for charity?  I did?  Well I better mention it again anyway! Head along to my Just Giving website - every pound given is matched by Barclays, so every little bit helps!

I did have a bit of a wrinkle in the preparation when I got a cold a couple of weeks back. But that seems to have passed and I'm back to fighting fit.  It may have proven that a vegan diet doesn't make you cold-proof, but at least my recovery has been swift!

Now, I better get out for that run...

Incremental Progress

In today's world we expect everything to happen fast. Fast food, fast transport, instant weight loss, same day delivery, we want more of everything and in less time.  While this is (probably) fine for things that are mechanical, it doesn't work so well for biological processes.

Let's use diets for example. You can indeed lose a lot of weight very quickly if you take radical action, such as cutting out all carbs (done it) or only eating apples for a month (no, I'm not that nuts).  But it won't last, it isn't a lifestyle, it is a transient fling with food and before you know it, you are back to where you started.  Nature doesn't like being rushed.

What brought on this line of thinking you may well ask? Well, today I looked back on my running times from way back in July 2010, when I had first started into running.  I did 3.8km in 29 minutes and 47 seconds, or 7:50 per km pace... and I remember that run, I honestly thought I might die.  Seriously, visions of lungs exploding or feet falling off were going through my head.  That wasn't even my first run, it was just the first I recorded with an app on my phone.  My first "run" involved a run/walk "strategy" whereby I would shift my fat ass for a few hundred metres before falling back into a gasping zombie-like lurch until the pattern could be repeated over and over. 

Post run

Flash forward a little less than 3 years later and I can comfortably bang out a half marathon in less than an hour and three quarters (~4:45 pace) on any given weekend for the sheer joy of it.  Now that's progress!

Upon reflection, this has taught me a number of important lessons:

• Keep a log of your progress.  Change doesn't happen quickly, but if you capture the metrics, you will be able to look back and take pride in what you have accomplished.
• Don't rush it.  Looking back, most of my injuries came from pushing too hard too early.  4 weeks of slow progress beats 1 week of awesome and 3 weeks of limping around cursing yourself.
• The best stuff in life is worth struggling, striving and fighting for.  Seriously, life is one hard slog after another, but totally worth it.  Consider the alternative.
• Running is awesome. Everyone hates it at first, but if you stick with it, what you get out of it far exceeds what you put in.  It becomes fun to do, fun to stop doing and makes everything else in your day better.  

So while my progress thus far has been aided immensely by my new plant powered life, it is all built on a solid platform of constant effort and steady payoff.  Sustainable change rocks :) 

Healthy Podcasts

Rich

I listen to three, very different, podcasts on nutrition and health - the Rich Roll podcast, Ben Greenfield's podcast and Vinnie Tortorich's podcast.  Taken individually, they are each totally entertaining, each presented by fascinating people and subscribe to very different approaches to a healthy athletic life.  Collectively they highlight that the "standard American diet" that has been exported globally, is killing us bite by bite.

Ben

I've spoken about Rich Roll before, the plant powered athlete with the qualities of personal determination and holistic ethos that is something I can both admire and relate to in equal measure.  He doesn't push a specific carb/protein/fat ratio that many others do, instead Rich leads with his vision of a spiritually more connected world where we use plants as fuel and medicine for our bodies and minds. His primary message? Eat more plants. Can't go too far wrong with that concept, making it beautiful in it's simplicity and adaptability for each person's situation. 


Now Ben Greenfield is something different altogether. His approach is much more bottom up, which focuses the details and how the individual variables can be tweaked and tuned to "hack" our systems. This appeals massively to my inner geek - I'd love to think of my body as something I have as much control of as my PC.  Don't like how it is running? That's fine, just take this supplement, do this exercise, use this programme or take this test.  While he does stray quite far into pseudo-science at times, usually it is fairly rooted in a modern understanding of health.

Vinnie

Last up we have Vinnie, "America's Angriest Trainer", who for someone who is supposed to be so angry, he sure likes to laugh a lot!  Vinnie's #NSNG (no sugar no grains) approach is basically a healthy low-carb approach that helps simply the process of cutting out all the processed crap that we normally shovel into our mouths with great abandon. I cut out excess sugar a long time ago and have reaped massive benefits to both my energy and weight.  While I still think that carbs have their place, I totally agree that sugar's place should be complementary, not superior to, fats and protein.  Vinnie also swears a lot and occasionally says completely inappropriate things - something I can certainly relate to personally :)

The more I read and learn about nutrition and health, the more I'm confronted with conflicting and contradictory advice and views.  Especially around the topic of nutrition and fitness.  However I think this is actually quite wonderful!

Why? Well, we only understand a tiny fraction of our world, so no-one has all of the answers. Each of us is trying to work out how to best function within the system, based on our own knowledge and beliefs. These three guys are each trying their best to get out of the rut of apathy that is quite literally killing us. Each of them is advocating change.  When I realised I was getting increasingly more sedentary, fat and heading for an early grave, I had to change as well. 

I'm now in a constant state of change; evolving my diet, attitudes, ethics, beliefs and training. Trying to find that sweet spot that works for me. And do you know what? That probably won't work for you - you have to find your own system that works for you.  In the meantime, I'll take what I can from people who have something to share, see if it fits and even if it doesn't, I'll have learnt something else new about myself.

Love the journey :)

The Diet Jouney - Part 2

In part one of my journey series I described how I employed low-carb diet to successfully shed a lot of weight and kick start my exercise.  In this one I want to go into my journey from a low-carb, meat-centric diet to one that is now wholly plant powered.

Which brings up a point around motivations.  One of the key drivers underpinning my dietary choices has been the daunting task of managing my weight.  While I enjoy being fit and care a great deal about both animal rights and the sustainability of our fragile planet's ecosystem, much of my drive has come from a delightfully vain desire to look good. Or look the best I can in any case.

With this as a major motivator, I was happy with a lot of the changes that had taken place with my body. Gone was the chubby cheeks, flabby arms and budding man-boobs. To achieve this I was running three times a week, doing some weights at the gym and eating (somewhat) moderately.  However my dilemma was that I was stuck in the dreaded "fat and skinny" zone.  As demonstrated by the photo below, taken not long before I went vegan:

Fat and skinny

It is clear that while I'd lost a lot of weight, I was carrying a lot of fat around my belly.  Not exactly the 6-pack that men aspire for.  So I had plateaued at this point, the tummy fat wasn't going to budge, it was here to stay. If I wanted to break out of the deadlock with my body, I needed to change it up a gear.  Since I wasn't prepared to starve myself or try out another fad diet (no shortage of those around), I needed something sustainable.

Enter the vegan super athletes!

Inspiration comes in many forms, for me it was in endurance athletes.  Check out this photo of Rich Roll, plant powered ultraman extraordinaire:

Rich Roll - spot the difference much?

Now he isn't some 20-something who is just naturally buff, this is a 40-something year old family man who has transformed himself into one of the fittest people in the world, the plant powered way.

This got me thinking.

So I started researching and the more reading I did, the more people I found who were plant powered and amazing athletes.  I've mentioned Scott Jurek before as another example of someone who has achieved prominence as a vegan athlete.  I started the tally up the pros and cons and decided this was something that really meshed with me.

The positives:

• I don't have to control portions.  Quite important since I suck at it.
• I was able to eat a much wider variety of foods than when I was low-carbing it.  
• I don't have to think about it too much.  Just eat lots of plants of different types.
• It feels "right" to me.  The moral choice to not eat meat just agrees with my psyche. It feels like a load has been taken off my spirit/soul.
• It has proven to be a healthy choice for top athletes.
• Finally, it is a lifestyle change, not just a diet or shortcut.  It is sustainable over the long term - this is possibly the most import of all the points.

The negatives:

• I wouldn't be able to have cheesecake any more.  On second thoughts, this might be a positive.
• Eating out can be a right pain in the ass.  That said, I probably shouldn't be eating out so much anyway.
• I wouldn't be a cool meat-eater any more. Oh for shame! I'd have to forgo the extremely masculine task of hunting my prey down in the meats aisle of my local Tescos.  

It wasn't such a hard choice to make when it came down to it.

So how is the 6-pack going?  Quite well thanks - 5 months in and the flabby belly is nearly gone. No photos though, I think this post has quite enough manly-ness already :)

Instead, here is a fry up I made post long run yesterday, proving once again that being vegan is never without variety!

This is my new version of a fry up - garlic spinach, fried mushrooms and onion

Race Report - adidas Silverstone Half Marathon

Last weekend I did the adidas Silverstone Half marathon, my first race since going plant powered!

The starting straight, feeling good

I picked this particular race as I thought it was quite unique, set on the Silverstone F1 racing circuit. I pictured myself tearing through the track, kissing the corners and zigzagging through the chicanes.  The reality was much more sedate than that, averaging 13.5km/h rather than 135 :)

The race itself went really well. The new-improved-plant-powered Matthew entered the race feeling good and a full 7 kg lighter than when I did the Royal Parks Half. I felt really strong throughout and my only enemy was my own mind.  I realised that you need to train mental strength just as much the physical, which is something I need to work on. Since this wasn't an A race, I had to push myself to keep up a good pace, with a constant inner struggle of "slow down, no one will mind!" competing with "run faster you lazy bastard!"over and over.

Just before the finish line, smiles all round

Made it through strongly in the end, finishing with a personal best of 1:34:58.  Since my target was 1:35, I'd call that a success.  Based on that performance, my marathon should be 3:30 or less.  I need to get down to a 1:30 half to target a sub 3:10 marathon (and entry into the London Marathon)... Which gives me something to aim for in any case. 

Really happy with everything on my first running test, so a big thumbs up for vegan athleticism! 

The Diet Jouney - Part 1

It has been quite some time since my conversion to plant powered and I've been reflecting a bit on my diet and the road I've taken getting to where I am today.  I realised it is quite difficult to separate the improvements brought about from my not eating animal products from the general improvement due to my taking more care with what I put in my body.  Applying conscious thought to what I am eating is almost as important as what sort of thing I decide to eat...

Those who know me will already be aware that I went from some 99kg down to 80kg using a low-carb diet called the TNT diet from Men's Health.  For a year and a bit, I cut down my carb intake to less than 20g a day, started going to the gym to do resistance training and a bit of cardio (primarily the elliptical initially, later more running).  While the diet was massively successful for me, I wouldn't recommend this diet to anyone, as I believe it isn't particularily healthy.  The near-daily fry up breakfasts of bacon, eggs, tomato, cheese (yes, melted onto the bacon) and mushrooms will probably kill you.  It will be a delicious death, granted, but possibly not worth it in the long run.

Like this, only not as healthy looking...

All that said, it was successful.  However... why did it work???

I think the success came down to three main things:

1. It broke my sugar addiction.  Since I couldn't have carbs, I finally gave up casual chocolate, muffin and chocolate-muffin consumption.  This alone probably accounted for 50% of the weight loss, due to the removal of low nutritional content, high calorie and low satiety foods from my diet.  
2. I started to learn what is in or added to food.  I found out about the evils of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), learnt to read labels and generally become more aware of the crap I was putting in my body. Companies put a lot of stuff in food to make it taste better, make you want to eat more of it and make it cheaper to produce.  Almost none of those things are aligned with a goal of making anything healthy.  So I learnt to read labels and start being much more picky about what I bought.
3. Exercise.  Doesn't matter what sort you do, but do as much of it as time allows.  You will feel better, live longer and be able to do more in life.  As a certain mega-corp admonishes - just do it.

Each of these opened up new processes - I could eat a muffin as a special occasion (making it all the more delicious), or choose a healthier option when out shopping, or actually enjoy group physical activity without being the guy at the back gasping and wheezing - that changed my life for the better.

After I lost the weight, I dropped that diet and went back to a "balanced" diet, keeping the knowledge I'd gained and employing it in a more natural way.  I stayed off chocolate for the most part, kept exercising and always checked the labels of anything I bought. I also stopped the fry up breakfasts.  Seriously, after a year I was utterly sick of meat and cheese.

In the next post I'll go into why I think the vegan diet has been the logical progression from this and how it has taken me from somewhat healthier to truly healthy.

Moroccan Strength Training

We recently got back from spending three days trekking through the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. It was a fantastic adventure, tromping up the mountains and back down into the valleys...

The elevation profile looks like a roller coaster with over 2,500 metres of elevation gain over the first two days before the GPS died.  I forgot to bring spare batteries.  *sigh*

Anyway! While on the adventure we had a mule...

And a dedicated chef, Mohammed! He was more than happy to prepare a delicious vegetarian (and I'm fairly sure vegan) meal for us three times a day. Now you know why the mule has so much stuff on it :)

So, food was awesome, sights were brilliant and walking up and down hills for hours on end was amazing strength training for my legs.  I had started introducing some into my training hills recently and this has convinced me I really need better leg strength. From what I've read it has the dual benefit of being lower impact and reducing the chances of injury.  On the downside it is really hard and not fun at all.  But then again, speed intervals aren't exactly the most enjoyable thing to do either... Wait, why do I do running again?

Oh right, I'm clearly I'm a unrepentant masochist. Good to know.

Final bit is the diet and exercise are clearly working very well, I got this great news from the (yes, probably highly inaccurate) set measuring thingy at the gym:

Ooooooooooh yeah baby.  Another milestone reached thanks to plant power :)

Racing and Food

Okie dokie.  So training is going well, just 16 weeks out from the Edinburgh Marathon now.  My long run is back up at 22km and increasing each week.  I plan to be at 32km within 8 weeks or so.  I'm also working on my speed and I've currently set myself three tiers of goals:

• Tier 3 - Worst Case - Complete the damn thing.  No matter if I have to walk, I don't want a DNF (Did Not Finish) on my first marathon.  Or worse yet, a DNS (Did Not Start) due to injury.  Must get this tier at a minimum!
• Tier 2 - Reality Check - 3 hours 30 minutes.  Based on my existing times and proper preparation, I should be able to clock this time.  Not easily, but should be doable.
• Tier 1 - Platinum Standard Awesomeness - Sub 3 hours 10 minutes.  This is my primary goal, as it will get me a good for age place at the London Marathon. It is a stretch, but if I train well, I feel I have this in me.

So there you have it, I've outed my expectations.  Let's review again after I've done my warm up races.

Next up, I thought I'd do a walk through of a recent stir-fry extravaganza!

Step 1: Get lots of stir fry ingredients.  Here I have carrots, broccoli, mushroom, baby corn, Chinese lettuce marinated tofu, and sweet pepper.

Step 2: Cook in a wok until, you know, all cooked and stuff

Step 3: Add some sauce and put in a plate. People like plates, they tend to add a touch of refinement over eating directly from the wok.  Fancy chopsticks are totally optional.

Why I don't have a cooking show on TV is a mystery.  Clearly I'm a genius.

Or not.  You know, since it didn't actually taste that good.  Word to the wise: don't use a BBQ stir fry sauce with tofu that has a completely different flavour.  They compete.  And not in a good way. 

Back to the drawing board...

Break in the weather

Lots of good news for this post my friends, family and random Internet people!

First, the diet.  Going plant powered has thus far provided:

• A more balanced diet and therefore a more balanced energy system (no sleepy afternoons at work)
• A cheerier outlook on life (just feel more positive and less grumpy... No scientific backing for this one)
• I've attained my target weight (73kg, thanks for asking)
• I ran a 5km PB on Saturday (likely due to my running going well and carrying less fat around)
• I've found a bunch of new vegan and vegetarian friends at work (really lovely people)
• A way more varied diet (Julie and I have been experimenting with food, with some success!)
• Regular errr... movements (they don't tell you about constipation re: low carb and thus low fibre diets)

Not too shabby if you ask me.

Next up is a community service announcement.  If you are running for longer distances, make sure you cut your nails.  Otherwise you get this:

Yup, the long nail cuts into the toe next to it, leading to blood and pain and annoyingly difficult to clean socks.

In related news, did a long run today of 19km in absolutely lovely weather.  Not too bad a run, getting back into the higher mileage as I rebound from my calf injury.  Speaking of which, calf is awesome, no problems at all on flats now. Still some issues with hills, but I can work on that as the healing continues.  Never liked hills that much anyway.

Off for a walk

So on Sunday Julie and I hit the trails and did a jaunty 21km loop near Guildford:

I really enjoyed the walk... So much so that I'd want to do it as a run.  As you can probably guess, my leg is 90% healed and I'm back in business!

My recovery has been much hastened by going to a physio and getting the underlying issue sorted and the injured muscle mercilessly massaged.  From this I have decided that physios are awesome.  If you are a physio, give yourself a pat on the back.  If you are near a physio, and it wouldn't be totally weird, give him or her a hug in appreciation.

So my beloved physio has patched me up and given me a bunch of exercises to help avoid a repeat of the same injury.  Here's hoping for a incident free lead up to Edinburgh.

But I digress, back to the trek...  At around half way, we came across this great little sign:

Love it :)

While on the walk we got to see lots of quintessentially English countryside, including this path/tunnel/hobbit hole thingy:

Very Alice in Wonderland I thought.

Final thing for this update - the diet! All is going really well, energy levels are great, recovery is good, variety is... Well, that needs some work.  It is so easy to get stuck in a rut of always buying the same food you know how to prepare.  I need to break out and try new things.  Food is the source of our very beings and it deserves to have a bit of thought and effort put into selecting and preparing it.

This may lead to disaster, but hey, that's the fun part :)

Marathon Sponsorship!

Hiya everyone :)

Not content with doing a half marathon last year and raising over £1,000 for Royal Parks thanks to everyone’s generous support, I’ve decided to go the whole hog and run the Edinburgh Marathon in May this year!  None of that half marathon business, this time it will be the full 26.2 mile shebang.

…with the following likely outcome:

Anyway…  this time I’ll be supporting Breast Cancer Care, a fab charity that provides information and support for people (and their loved ones) that are afflicted by breast cancer cross the UK. The aim is to raise £750 for the charity directly, and have Barclays chip in another matching £750.  Lofty aspirations, but totally worth it!

You can donate using the this link: http://www.justgiving.com/MatthewToy

As a special reward for getting this far into the blog post, here I am in my oh-my-goodness-so-very-hot-pink race singlet.  I think I can carry it off…

I’m going to assume that has convinced you to donate now!

I'm back!

The post title says it all, I'm back baby! After nearly 6 weeks of no running due to a pulled calf muscle, I was able to bang out a slow 40 minute run last night.  Thank goodness.

So, a couple of lessons learnt:

1. See a physio and determine if you have any biomechanical issues.  This will help avoid injury in the first place.
2. Make sure you monitor your protein intake.  I'm pretty sure I was below 50g of protein a day around the injury time. Without protein your body can't repair itself between exercise sessions.  I've since invested in Clif Builders bars, which are both yummy and packed with 20g of vegan friendly protein per bar.

The diet is still going well. My weight has normalised around 74kg, only 1kg from my self imposed ideal weight. I'm also finding more and more food options, including everything from cakes to full vegan meals that is rounding out my diet nicely.

The next stage is to up the exercise to 6 runs a week (including recovery runs) and keep a close eye on the nutrition.  This combined with some exercises to target my weak spots, should give me the lead up to the Edinburgh Marathon that I want. Sub 3:30 marathon here I come!