The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat!

Sunday saw us competing in the Reading Half Marathon. 13000 runners starting just down the road from at the Majeski stadium, and finishing in the stadium itself. We left early in the morning to drive there which should have taken 55 minutes. However a crash at the junction to get off the motorway delayed us quite badly, not as badly as the 5 men in skimpy running shorts standing next to their crashed car. We got on the shuttle bus after parking just in time and got to the start.

The organisation was excellent with the stadium offering a lot of toilet facilities. Tents were setup to drop bags off and Sweatshop had a shop there selling gels, energy drinks and surprisingly shoes. The main area of congregated people were those standing in what could only be described as the “dumping ground” Around 300 porta-loos with people lined up outside each of these green cubicles. We ended up joining the queue, a result of a bowl of porridge, prune juice and some carboloading drinks. It was fairly cold standing there but a stenchy warm steam blew across every so often, a by-product of the porta-loos.

We got underway just after 10, with the elite runners sprinting off first. There was a lone Kenyan and a number of Britain's touted as favourites. In the end the Kenyan wiped the floor, scooping the winning money and setting a course record. Our start was a little less subdued, I got into a manageable rhythm that allowed me to keep going forward. Watering holes were well stocked with water and Lucodaze. I heard they ran out of Lucozade for the slower runners – if that’s not motivation to run faster next time then nothing is. Brass bands along the way banged out some Rocky and Chariots of Fire theme tunes which helped and there were ladies handing out jelly babies to runners in need of a sugary fix.

The finish was in the stadium itself which was great as there was a big crowd cheering you in, it gave me the momentum I needed to catch the 50 year old woman I had been chasing down for the past 3 miles. 1hr 37 minutes was the finishing time. Sarah finished about 6 minutes before me and I found her at the bag drop. The medal and goody bag was much appreciated with plenty of lucozade and snacks. I nearly knocked Sarah out during the night though when I turned over bed, as I had proudly not taken off the medal.

My knees have been killing me today so decided to kill two birds with one stone. I bought a packet of frozen peas and wrapped it round my knee. At lunch time today they had de-frosted so much I added them to a bread roll and that took care of lunch. My knee is feeling much better but lunch did not apease me as much as I had hoped (dah doom dish). Still pasta this evening in preparation for tomorrow mornings training run.