1000.

"Running frees me from the monosyllabic inanities of my usual tongue-tied state. It removes me from the kind of talk which aims at concealing rather than revealing what is in my heart, and what I mean to do and be."

-George Sheehan, philosopher-runner.

At some point between my last blog and now I decided to participate in the Victoria Marathon. In my mind it is one of the greatest marathons on the planet, but we can keep that our secret.

What I can't believe is how I have continued to improve with what feels like only an "average" training regiment. However, I just tallied the total amount of kilometers I've run since I decided in November of 2007 to start running again and I'm just short of one thousand. That might sound like a lot, but only works out to about 23km or 11miles a week. The marked improvement, in my mind, has come from the intense cross training that I've done this season. The thing is, team sports and gym work-outs usually don't feel like training to me. But they must have had an impact.

Whatever the case may be, I'm as fit and lean as I have ever been in my life and it has come while running the least that I have ever run. Yesterday I went for a long run of 37km and cruised home in 2h 50min. It was a great run through the endowment lands and along the seaside. If I'm able to achieve those sorts of numbers on a slow "long run", I can't wait to see what I am able to do in a month from now at the Victoria Marathon. A personal record feels inevitable.