The injury crisis is still very much with us but the feeling in the camp is that the oncoming train at the end of the tunnel may have a silver lining. It has been a very busy two weeks since the Diary was last updated...

Angus stunned the rest of the team by finally revealing the precise details of his audacious January transfer window massage coup. We knew that he was in negotiations with a top Italian with an incredible track record but nothing prepared us for the announcement on Saturday 26 January that contracts had been signed with Roberto Ciurleo.

As Roberto's bio explains in more detail, he has worked alongside double Olympic marathon champion Haile Gebrselassie (PB: 2.04!) and is currently retained by the Italian Ultra Marathon Team and the Democratic Republic of Congo Olympic Team. Joining the the Two Cities Challenge team is the obvious next step!

We are extremely grateful to Roberto for coming on board and trust that he will ignore the suggestions of others in the personal training world that his working with us will be like "a Formula 1 driver going to the shops in a Ford Escort".

New boy Rob "Little" Ellliott has taken to the Challenge like a duck to water and acquitted himself well at his debut spin session. "I was obviously nervous about having to perform alongside iron men like Disson and "Big" Elliott and an old man like Phillips, but once I had adjusted the seat to the right height I took to it like a duck to water", the excited youngster later told waiting reporters/the man in the shop.

Giles, Leon and John P attended a two day aclimatisation training camp in Paris. The highlight was a 12 miler in the grounds of Versailles, kindly organised by Wesley Johnson, who is the partner in charge of Jones Day's Paris office and will be running Paris with us. As the photo below demonstrates (apologies for the quality... of the photo), Wesley shares Giles' flair for leisure wear colour coordination. The extraordinary "bin men in tights" look favoured by Leon and John P was widely thought to be rather less successful.

Seb is right back in the game with two separate runs of over 15 minutes and feels more than ready for Sunday's Watford Half Marathon. He is carefully structuring his training programme to ensure that he does not peak too early and has signalled his intent for the last eight weeks of training - "the last big push" as he calls it - by ordering his team Craghopper relaxation trousers in a remarkably aggressive waist measurement.

Pat is believed to be the main injury concern although it is difficult to be certain as no - one has seen him since Manchester City's unfortunate balloon related FA Cup exit fiasco at the weekend. 

Conrad has returned from his skiing holiday nursing an injury. He tried to argue that he had incurred the knock to his leg while on the slopes but we have been informed that he fell up the stairs on his way to the local shop seeking pies.

Rhys has had his hair cut, Will has been strengthening his core (again), Angus is snowboarding and Leon went direct from the Paris training camp to yet another skiing trip.

We are well over half way through our training schedule and everyone has now done at least a couple of long runs (apart from Seb) and one long cycle ride (apart from Seb, John P, Conrad, Rhys, Rob and Leon). The aim now is simply to build on the solid foundations that are already in place. As the team's base fitness is so good, it is in tiny refinements of diet and stretching that we are now looking to gain that extra edge. This week's major themes have therefore been "second breakfast strategies" and "polystyrene aided self massage techniques".

Next week's Diary will have a full report on the Watford Half Marathon, which is expected to be the defining moment of the campaign for Seb, Angus, Pat and Rhys. The Watford Half Marathon's own web site may possibly allow you to follow the progress of the guys on the day through its live web cam streaming facility.