I have this problem. After a running break-which I take after a full (42 kms) or longer marathon I suffer from serious itches when I resume. This happens from around the 1-kilometer mark when the body starts breaking into a sweat. The itch is so severe and irritating that during my inaugural run many years ago, I almost tore through my skin scratching profusely and eventually concluded that maybe I wasn’t meant to run and went back home with nail marks all over my body.

The South African fight for freedom is a story of the triumph of the human spirit. Prisoners jailed in various prisons most of them in Robben Island spent years and years for the sake of liberating their country from apartheid. It is a story of hope; hope that their struggle would liberate their country from apartheid, a hope that the likes of Nelson Mandela held onto for the 27 years he was in prison.

Imagine being on a dining table, taking the first bite of a juicy tasty meal, chewing on it and with eyes closed, somehow, something/someone stops you from the most important moment of enjoying the meal…swallowing. Well that was ‘me.’ London marathon 2017.Date 23rd April, sometime around 1pm London time. not eating but approaching the finish line. With every ticking second of the clock taking me nearer to the finish line while at the same time robbing me off critical seconds from my goal for this race. A marathon under three hours.

Second week of taper. This week, I reduce my mileage to 60 % from 100+ kms a week to about 60kms whilst maintaining the same training routine.Tempo run today-Tempo runs increase the body’s lactate threshold, or “LT.” which is the point at which lactic acid begins to accumulate in muscles.