Still buzzing

The reason I haven't posted on the blog since the race is that I've been struggling with what to say.
I don't know why, it's simple really -

The whole day was brilliant. I loved it, and I still feel lifted by it now, days afterwards.

A combination of things made it very special. These included

• The excitement building on the Tube and the train taking the runners to the race start at Greenwich. People were chatting animatedly! On the Tube! Unheard-of.
• The crowds of spectators along the route. Their support gave me a huge lift. The best two banners I saw read. "I'm proud of you, Random Stranger", and "Running faster = wine sooner!"
• Running through the heart of London, the best city in the world
• The cheers from friends and family around the route
• Gritting my teeth through the last 5 miles, and maintaining my pace
• Coming in under 4 hours

Crossing the finishing line, I felt 2 things. First, a distinct physical wobble as my body adjusted to not-running after non-stop-running for nearly 4 hours. I nearly fell over! Second, I felt a huge wave of emotion from all the support I'd had, from the crowd of course, but more importantly from everyone who sponsored me so generously and offered me such encouragement over the last few weeks.

So, thank you everyone for your support. I'm truly grateful.

(And Lucy T, special thanks to you for the support and huge encouragement you've provided. You have been just brilliant!)

Job done

3 hrs 52 minutes. I'm happy with that. More later, now for a beer.

Ready to go!

Good luck, mate!

No rhinos yet, but...

And it's not raining.

Toward the start

On ma way

This tube train is full of marathon runners with their red kit bags. People are talking to each other on the Tube (unheard of), in fact the carriage is buzzing.

Excitement is building now.

Final training run

My nieces Iz and Harriet are in Chiang Mai at the moment, but took the time to post up this photo of support. Thanks guys!

I get quite emotional thinking about all the support I've had. I'm not sure how I'll be able to thank everyone. It's helped hugely toward keeping me going.

This morning I did a gentle jog for a mile around Highbury Fields, just to keep the blood moving and limber up the limbs.

No more training runs. WOO HOO!

The Final Countdown

Just 5 days to go. How do I feel about the race now?

I'm actually really looking forward to it.  The excitement is starting to build. I know that the last 6-7 miles are going to be HARD ... but the buzz from this huge event - from moving in a river of runners through the heart of this great city - should help carry me for much of the way round.  And when the grind sets in, I'm hoping encouragement from the crowd will help keep me going through the last few miles to the finish line.

Lucy T from Boost has been brilliantly supportive all the way through this. One thing she's done, which will really help on the day, was to send me a Boost running shirt with my name in big letters on the front, so that spectators can shout out encouragement to me personally. It's the first time I've run with my name on my shirt - and it should really help.

The weather forecast is for a low pressure front to come across the country at the weekend, ending the spell of sunny weather we've been having. Fine by me. Call me selfish but the last thing you want to run 26 miles in is heat. I remember spectating the London Marathon one year during a spring heatwave: at the 20 mile mark, none of the runners was enjoying the race and plenty looked to be overheating and in trouble.

So, sorry guys, the cool weather will do just fine. Throw some drizzle in too if you like.
(No wind though please!)

15 miles to Broxbourne

This morning Nick, Lee and I ran north along the Lee Navigation to Broxbourne.

Nick and Lee started their run at Limehouse Basin, but with just a fortnight until the Marathon I'm starting to taper my long running,  so I ran from home and joined them further north by Springfield Park.

It was a fine sunny spring day. With a breeze at our backs we just took it easy and enjoyed the sun and the run.

I've run 399 training miles to date.

Support from Swaziland!

That's a beautiful banner

Thanks for the support, guys!

Yesterday, out of the blue, Lucy from Boost emailed me this photo. The orphaned children who made this very fine banner are supported by All Out Africa, a not for profit organisation in Swaziland. My charity Boost gives funding to All Out which they then distribute to a few well run projects, where the sports include football, swimming, riding and ‘days of sport’.

Running a marathon can sometimes seem a bit of a pointless exercise - but not this time.

Lea valley 20 miler

Today I ran my last longer run before the Marathon.

The route took me via Stamford Hill and the Lea Valley Navigation towpath, up to the North Circular Road then south again along the Lea down to Limehouse Cut.

It was a proper spring day.

This was the tamest heron I've ever seen. Someone must have been feeding it goldfish.

Spring flowers - but still plenty of wood put by for the woodburner

I could live in a lock-keeper's house. Maybe not in London though

Cake and scotch egg extravaganza

At work today we had a cake and scotch egg sale to raise money for Boost, the excellent charity I'm running for.

Victoria had given up her time to cook 70 of her renowned scotch eggs, just a day before going on holiday. These were always going to sell well - in fact word somehow got out and she'd had people queuing with advance orders.

Priya baked a very fine vanilla layer cake with strawberries and cream, and some truly beautiful cupcakes with piped icing and little glacèd fruit slices on top. They'd have graced the window display of a pâtisserie. She even made chocolate brownies, too.

I wasn't about to lower the tone by attempting to bake something myself so I contacted Miranda, an ex-colleague who used to bring in delicious cakes baked by her mum. I ordered 2 cakes - but her mum baked FIVE for me. These included superb carrot, walnut and chocolate cakes.

Thanks to the willingness of these three people to give up their time so selflessly and to their fantastic culinary creativity and skill, we made £375 today. We should even push past £400 tomorrow when the last few slices of cake are sold (there was SO much food).

I'd never dreamed we'd make so much. Thanks so much, guys! Thanks too to Ollie and Miranda for helping make it all come together.

UPDATE: Total raised from the cake 'n' egg sale was £403. Impressive!

4 weeks to go

Whoever was cutting that fringe must have looked away at a critical moment...

Sorry about the slowdown in my blog posting over recent weeks. Despite a few distractions I have kept up the training runs - in a fashion, anyway. I won't be running the race in record time but - fingers crossed - I ought to get round.

Miles run since Marathon sign-up: 335
Days to go: only 28!

Gosport Judo Club

WA-HEY !! 

Thanks for the support, guys!

Thames Riverside 20 Miler

.

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law Jilly got in touch to suggest running this 20-miler. Jilly's signed up for the Brighton Marathon at the start of April and wanted experience of running a longer distance under race conditions.

The route looked good: it follows the south bank of the river Thames from Putney to Richmond and back. Flat, too! So I said yes.

I told Nick about the run, and he in turn encouraged his friends Matt and Lee to join us too.

So, yesterday morning we got up at an ungodly hour to get to Bishops Park by Putney Bridge in time for the start of the race at 08:00.

It was a fine day, staying cool in the early spring sunshine, and with a light breeze forecast to follow us on the return leg. Perfect conditions, in other words.

I maintained a pace of 8:30 minute miles until mile 15 when things started going a bit wobbly. It was not a surprise. I've usually been running at a faster pace but the training has been a little off the boil recently, and 15 miles was the longest I'd run before yesterday.

The final 2 miles were very hard work. Still, they were soon over, and I finished in 2 hours 56 mins. 

A great day. Good effort everyone.

Support from Llandudno FC Under 10's

Seriously, this is real. 

Lucy, from Boost (the charity I'm running for, which provided support for the team earlier in the year) thought I needed a morale lift and so organised this.

Well - it's worked! 

A bit of a wobble

My motivation took a bit of a downturn this week.

I won't bore you with my musings on the psychology of motivation except to say that, for me, staying motivated to train long-term depends (too much?) on keeping to a structured training programme. This week I lost a couple of run slots because it was too busy at work to get out at lunchtime, and the frustration from this combined with the effects of a couple of short nights and made me start to think "what's the point?"

Feeble, I know.

Anyway I'm feeling more upbeat today after a couple of good nights sleep and after a 9 mile run yesterday. I'm pretty confident my wobble was only temporary. And I'm running the Bath Half Marathon next weekend: that should buck me up...

Here are some photos of Hackney street art I passed on my circuit yesterday.

Admiring the Olympic Stadium

Picasso lives on

Good result England

Though possibly a bit weak in defence. Good heart though.

Rehydration with lager is the way to go, I find.

200 miles

Or 206 miles, to be precise, after today's run. It took me in a loop from Bramfield via Walpole, Cookley, and Wenhaston then back to Bramfield.

Quite often barn owls can be seen swooping like white ghosts over the valley bottom near Cookley, but not today.

St Andrew's, Bramfield