What I didn't mention in my last post was that I'd been persuaded by JT to go to the first of the Assembly League fixtures the following day. I was easily swayed by the promise of a short and easy race, with "runners of all standards" and just a "little" hill at the beginning. Considering that my only previous race experience had been a 10K Race for Life last year - in which I'd finished near the front of the pack - having hundreds of serious club runners overtake me at the start of the race was a humbling experience! Nethertheless, as I hadn't run much for several runs, I was pleased with a time of under 24 mins (2.8 miles) and very happy not to be last at least :-)

After some discussion with JT, I'm thinking that the Dublin marathon in October might not be a good idea. My injury is getting better but I still have pain after a few miles and don't want to rush back into an intensive training schedule too soon. So the alternative is to wait until the London marathon next year and do a half marathon in the autumn. But which one?! There is a possibility that I'll be in Montreal for a conference justbefore the half-marathon there, which would be a great reason to extend my stay for some sightseeing and running. My other choice was the Royal Parks half marathon in London this October but apparently that's already sold out. There is the Run to the Beat half marathon at the end of September - quite a new and funky one by the look of it.

However, I'm aware of my recent run of paying to enter races that I'm then not able to take part in due to injury and think I may have previously blogged about tempting fate!