Blog: One week to go

It is now just seven days until the London Marathon and I am getting really excited!

I wrote last time about the rollercoaster of running, and I have to say the last couple of weeks have been the same.

The highs include doing a 22 mile run with a friend from work and knowing at the end that I would be able to run the full 26.2 mile distance.

The lows include getting an injury in the last week which has made running virtually impossible for the last few days.

Let's start with the highs. The training programme I am on took me up to 22 miles and luckily a friend at work is also training and wanted to do the same distance. Having her to run alongside made the run a lot easier, and when at times I wanted to stop she didn't (and vice versa) which kept us going to the end. I've got to admit that I didn't feel the best at the end and my muscles ached for a few days, but it was great to know that I had the longest run under my belt.

Doing that long run, meant that the 16 mile one I did the week after felt like a dream! I did it in a really good time (two and a half hours) and was really pleased at the end.

I've also been chatting to a family member who has run every single London Marathon! Terry is my Dad's cousin and Sunday's race will be the 38th time he has run 26.2 miles through the capital. It was great to talk to him and his advice was that on the day all you can do is try your best and trust in your training. He also said that the 'wall' is just science, as your body can only carry so many carbs, so he always tries to eat a good breakfast before he goes. Thinking about the dreaded 'wall' in the sense of it just being a carb deficiency has helped me. I have worked out a plan for carb loading in the few days before the race and will have my gels ready on the day. Then it really is just a case of mind over matter and keeping on running!

Moving on to the lows, and after taking expert advice I think I have sciatica in one of my glutes. Last week I struggled to even walk home from work as I was limping so much, but after seeing a physio and doing some rest it is already feeling better. It meant that I didn't get to do the 10 mile run that I wanted to yesterday, but has made me think of training in different ways. This morning I went swimming and on Wednesday I have a bike ride planned. I'll do a couple of short runs between now and the end of the week and then will put it to the back of my mind as I start the marathon. I really hope it won't be too painful on Sunday as I would hate to have trained for all this time to then be hobbling around the course, but I am trying not to think about that too much!

Leaving it on a positive note, I am really excited for this weekend! My sponsorship total has now surpassed the £3500I was aiming for and I am hoping to raise £4000 for Jersey Hospice Care. I went up to Hospice today and met the other runners who are doing the marathon for the charity and discovered that between us we have raised enough to fund the Hospice's services for a whole day, which is great news!

Now there's just the 26.2 miles to do on Sunday!