Last week

The football game on Sunday left my body exhausted for the following days. No running till Wednesday night when I struggled through a one-hour jog (it did not help that I took a turn I'd never taken before and ended up on a seemingly endless mud track along the highway, with a variety of trees and branches fallen over the path I was sliding on).

So, tomorrow morning early is for the final training. Again I will set out on my 20k route, with iPod and little flasks of water (or coke, as a friend suggested?). Whatever comes of it tomorrow, I have no excuse for not going to Paris. I've trained through winter to get back where I am now. I've paid for my train, hotel and registration. I've told people I'm doing this.

And strangely, I know it will be good. I'll get a burst of energy and then, if I can pace myself at 5:40 to 5:50 minutes per kilometer (not faster!) I will keep going for a very long time. And finish in a time not too far over two hours.

It's the first of the season. If I do one half marathon per month, I will be very ready for the Brussels 20k at the end of May. And in the course of the summer I should be able to bring my half marathon time down to under two hours.

That's the plan.