My training blog is now up and running, so I will no longer be boring you with the nit and gritty of the week in week out preparation that has to be put into these events. My running will still get mentions on here every now and then but for the more in depth reading you will have to look elsewhere.

Work has been crazy as ever. I have only been there about 2 months but already have 14 hours of flexitime built up, and that's after taking 5 hours of it! With it being mid summer the Swedes have been having there annual attempt to deplete the world of pickled herrings. In previous years this hasn't affected me in the slightest, let them eat their smelly fish if they want to, why should it bother me.

Not this year, not since I have to pack all the damn fish to be carted away to the supermarkets. It wouldn't be so bad if everything remained in the packaging but of course it doesn't. Bottles get broken, the liquid preserving the fishes runs down the back of the pallet to be forgot about until it stinks to the high heavens in the weeks to come. Or worse it gets soaked into your gloves, you feel your nose starting to run for working in a constant 4 degree environment and the inevitable happens. You might as well stick a fish up your nose and be done with it.

Of course being mid summer we are being treated to the longest days of the year. Driving home in the twilight at midnight still feels a bit bizarre. Maria has me paranoid about meeting a moose on the way home. Apparently they are more active during these hours so you have to be extra careful, they are large solid animals that would write your car off and then die before you get the chance to exchange insurance details. Twice I have spotted a large dark object lingering by the edge of the road. Twice I have been concerned and slowed considerably. Twice have I been very glad that few buses run after 11 in the evening so there was no one watching as I crawled past the bus stop...

Its been quite a while again since I last posted, work has been keeping me busy beyond belief and together with the traveling there and back there has been no energy over to blog. Hopefully that will all change now we have our own car. I am all for public transport but as my job is located on an industrial estate with no bus stops going to work by bus has been adding an extra hour to my day to get there than if I drove and then another hour to return home.

Work itself is still going great. Well apart from today when the modified fork lift like truck that we drive decided to play games with my patience. The front section where the driver stands can be raised a meter or so to enable us to reach items on higher shelves. In theory it should also go to lower but not the truck I had chosen so I spent the early part of the day looking down on all and sundry an undignified scramble to get my feat back on the ground.

The rest of the marathon report is on its way, but I will probably post it on my resurrected training blog instead. So if you would like to read more about what its like trying to run while holding off the impending threat of diarrhea for 6 miles or the after race I am going to puke stay tuned to fake swede running. Of course with this being me, theres nothing there yet...

The full Marathon report - Part one. I will warn you from the start these might turn out to be rather long posts. Stop groaning at the back, gess we have only just started, If I can run 26.2 (never forget the point 2) The least you can do is read a little further before starting to complain! The day started with an early wake up call at 5 for the drive down to Stockholm. Uncertain of how easy it would be to find the carparks we have penciled in we thought it best to go early just to be on the safe side.

So with Maria worry about the capitals traffic and myself concerned about the ever increasing figures showing on the temperature gauge we travelled onward. After about 3 hours and two short stops, one for breakfast and one for the police to decide if Maria had been drinking or not we arrived at our destination, Karonlinska hospital before the short bus and tube rides to the race registration and the start. Finding the way was no longer going to be a problem, in what was going to become my theme for the day it was just a case of follow the person in front, all roads road to the stadium.

Once I had collected my race number we passed the time by trying to work out where Maria would try and cheer me on from around the course and at what times we thought I would arrive at these points. A light meal of a few bananas and a couple of sandwiches and a spot of people watching passed the time until I went to get changed into my race kit. Having been moaned at before for wearing a common white top this time I was making no mistake and went for a bright orange vest and blue union flag shorts. Maybe not the height of fashion but noticeable at least.

After I joined the queues of people waiting to make a deposit in the blue portable savings cubicles, Maria thought it was best to go claim her first spectators spot. I had about an hour to pass before the start of the race, with nerves increasing, I decide to see if I could find another member of a forum I chat on. After a while however hanging around the ladies bag storage area was beginning to appear slightly on the dodgy side and my stomach was increasing becoming more and more upset, not a particular good sign.

to be continued...

Chris Moon is at it again. If you haven't heard the name before, this brief summary of his life is well worth a read. Having done so much in the past, he now has another crazy scheme in progress. He plans to walk from John O'Groats to Lands end in just 25 days to raise money for the Leonard Cheshire charitable organisation.

That's a rate equalient to 2 marathons a day in a planned time of 18 hours walking each day. Then 6 hours later to up again ready to start all over again. Just thinking about it puts my current hobbying into perspective. Best of luck to him, he's mad!

A full race report will follow later, but for now heres the trailer. I finished in a time of 4 hours 42 mins, slower than I would have hoped for at the start of the year but considering my new job has curtailed all training I am more than pleased. I set out aiming for 4 hours 15 and was on track until just after 32 kms until a combination of the fabeled "wall" and the West Bridge put pay to that.