4th Tokyo Marathon 2010, I'm in!

That'll be lil ol me wearing a blue vest with JESSICA in huge letters printed on the front!

Had some great news yesterday. Found out that I got through to the Tokyo marathon on the 28th Feb next year. They operate a lottery system you see so when you apply you're not guaranteed to run. About 300,000 people apply for the marathon and only 32,000 get to run so yes I actually felt like a lottery winner (albeit it the prize is running 26 miles....) Apparently if your'e a gaijin (foreigner) you'll likely to be accepted as they want the marathon to be seen as "international" as possible. Great at last, I got a face that fits!

I'm so excited. The Bristol Half marathon was such a fantastic experience. The only issue is that I self-diagnosed myself with either runners knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) or Iliotibial Band Syndrome (not sure which one) about 3 weeks ago. I had sharp pains around the front and outside of both of my knees and ended up hobbling to school and back for a week.

Since then I haven't been able to run ata ll, it hurts way too much so have been cycling, swimming and doing pilates (which is great) so the knees have been easing up a bit but still don't feel 100%. Fingers crossed that they'll be ok for another 11k run I signed up to in November at Lake Kawaguchi (near Mount Fuji).

I've given myself until next week to start some gentle running again (on a treadmill to start with) Think I just pushed it a bit too hard before. Advice to anyone embarking on a marathon, don't rush the training, only increase length of runs by 10% max each week.