what can I say about paula? I watched the marathon live last night, chatting away with a friend on skype and with my fetchie peeps. it was nice to comment on the race and have a virtual laugh. but the laughters lasted up to the 35 k marker. at that point I saw her stop and strecth. she looked in real pain. I thought that she was going to pull out. she didn't. she got into the stadium. she crossed that finish line. great!! but I was very upset for her. I couldn't help crying when she hugged liz yelling and when she talked to the BBC. I can just imagine the pain she felt when her legs stopped working and she had to push herself .... I can only imagine her disappointment.

but today I am even more upset by some comments made on the papers by journalists and random people alike who criticize her for having taken part in the games being injured, for having taken away somebody else's chance of victory (!!) bla bla bla. I have realised for the first time how despised she is by many in UK and I just can't get my head around this. to me she is the greatest marathon runner ever and her inabilty to win a gold medal at the games doesn't change how I feel about her. I am not going to add much. I just hope that she'll recover soon from her injury and that she gets back into racing and winning soon.

as for my race yesterday, that went much better than I thought. I have been feeling out of sorts in the last few weeks. I did the same race last year, same course. It took me 1:36:49. I thought this time anything under 1:45 it's fine really. but I PBd!! by only one minute....but who cares? I finished the 10 miles in 1:35:29 and I am well pleased with that.