I DID IT!!!! 4h 15m 18s !!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Week 16 - it's now T minus 24 hours! Getting ready for the Flora London Marathon 2006

It has been hard to think of anything other than the Marathon this week. A number of friends and colleagues are running it and that has been the chat all week. Everyone has worked hard at it and we are all hoping for some good weather (cool, not hot, and dry) and some good luck.

My ankles, Achilles and body overall have held up reasonably well this week. I have still got a bit of a cold, which is better but has certainly not gone away. Hopefully it is virtually gone by tomorrow.

My tapering exercises went fine this week. Got 2 x 3 mile runs in, around the same route, the first one with Marianne, the second with Michael (together, the McMufetts!). It was taken at a steady pace and both were completed in around half an hour. Running with friends is definitely encouraging and I enjoyed these runs as I have enjoyed all previous runs with good company. I walked for 3 miles as my final bit of exercise last night (Friday nt.) and the plan for today is to rest well. With a lot of footie on the box, that shouldn't prove too difficult!

I have been focussed on eating lots of carbs this week. Happily I'm not yet sick of the sight of pasta but if I kept this up for much longer, I'm sure I would be. Have eaten lots of carbs as recommended and hopefully my body will remember that on Sunday morning.

My weight hasn't changed a jot since I started training for the Marathon. The good thing, however, is that I have lost most of my belly which I had sadly cultivated over the last couple of years. Whilst I have not fallen in love with running per se, I have really enjoyed being fit, excercising a lot and getting those endorphins flowing! Hopefully that's something I will keep up post-Marathon.

One of the most excting aspects of this last week has been the phenomenal response to my Charity appeal for Shelter. I was hoping to raise £3,000 and have been gob-smacked by the response; as I type, the amount stands at £6,362.44! (www.justgiving.com/vinay). I have received unbelievable generousity in terms of both money and goodwill from family, friends, colleagues... you name 'em! That is something that will give me energy tomorrow.

Counting down the hours. Next blog update will be post-Marathon.

So I started at nought and am on the eve of a full Marathon. I've certainly done the training, the hard work has been put in. I've had some bad luck with injuries but I'm feeling better going into tomorrow. Postive Mental Attitude! With good wishes, some good weather and a lot of good luck, I hope I have extremely good news to post tomorrow.

Let's go!

Week 15 - Less than one week to try to put the pieces together

It's hard to believe it is less than a week to the Flora London Marathon. It certainly has been an Adventure. Many highs and an unfortunate amount of lows.

This week has been tough again. I wasn't able to run during the week as my Achilles remained swollen. I did get to the gym three times though and did some cross-training and cycling each time. I guess it was good to do some cardio work. I have to confess to feeling very jealous whenever I saw random people running on the road though - that should be me! After a bit of trepidation, I went for my first run today, exactly two week since my last and one week to the Real Thing. I am extremely pleased to say it went OK - I got 7.5 miles done, almost half of it accompanied by Priya. We are in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, for Easter weekend. It is always nice to run with company and it is something I'd recommend to those thinking about training. Both my feet/legs are a bit sore but not that bad.

The plan for this week, according to my book ('The Non-runner's Marathon Trainer' (Whitsett, Dolgener, Kole)) is 2 x 3-mile jogs and 1 x 3-mile walk. Then rest, lots of carbs and mental preparation for positive mental attitude. I have to confess that I was struggling with the latter but after today's run I am feeling a bit more positive going into next Sunday.

So, I can count down in days and not weeks or months now. 7 days to go. It almost feels like an exam, I just want to get on with it... bring on Sunday, April 23rd '06 - I'm just about ready to go.

Week 14 - It's getting closer - just praying for all the niggles to clear up...

Another tough week. I must say the start of this whole 'Adventure' has been a whole lot easier than the more recent weeks. I seem to be cursed to pick up injuries and I am just praying that they all clear up in time for the Marathon.

The Achilles heel continues to be a big problem. I had Physio a couple of times this week and the swelling is still pretty severe although it has started to come down. I am still advised against running as the thud-thud impact will do more harm than good. Uh oh!

The first few weeks was spent just icing it and resting it. Trying to eat somewhat healthily and have stayed off the booze for quite a while now. Neither are easy though, that's for sure! The physio gave me a number of stretches to do on it and did a bit of ultra-sound on it too. Helped but my impatience wanted to see more immediate results. Time is the one thing I am expected to give it and is the one thing I don't have. It should be time to somewhat start tapering my runs so I guess it's not the worst result in the world. However, having missed out on a good bit of training a few weeks' back, I feel I could have done with one more 'big' run. Hopefully the long runs I have done will hold me in good stead and their will be enough adrenalin on the day to take me round. The weeks have now become a matter of days, Sunday the 23rd of April 2006 is looming large.

Later in the week, I did manage a couple of small sessions in the gym on the cross-trainer and the stepper. They were only 20 mins and 40 mins in two sessions, but I need to keep up the cardio. Hopefully I will get to run a couple of times in Week 15.

Next entry will be in T minus one week to the Flora London Marathon. Typing that has made me even more nervous.. but excited too. I need some speedy healing cures!!

Week 13 - My Achilles heel - literally...

Into April and you can feel the Marathon looming.

I had (yet another) mixed week. I seem to be picking up knock after knock and I just can't seem to get the mileage in... 'You can't cheat your legs' - but the problem is my legs aint enjoying the continuous poudning.

I managed all of one and a half shorter runs this week but got around the long run. The first run was on Tuesday morning when I ran into work. It was actually class, although the 5.30am alarm clock wasn't ideal! Running with a bag is harder but I took the route that I would take when driving in, so that I didn't risk getting too lost along the way. Overall, it was pretty good and I was delighted to get to the gym to shower in just over an hour (61 mins).

I felt good going into my next run which was to run back home on Thursday evening. It started off reasonably promisingly, hammies tight as per usual but ok. But at around 75% into the journey, I kept getting sharp pains in my right Achilles heel. Ouch... I decided to jump on the tube for a couple of stops rather than risk a longer-term injury. It was disappointing to have yet another injury to add to the growing list.

Sunday morning, the plan was to take in 19 miles around London. I got up on time as I had scheduled to meet Carsten & Regina at 9.30am at Vauxhall Bridge. Ran down to Battersea Bridge and ran along the Thames to meet the other two... they're not even training for the Marathon, just super-fit runners! We ran up past Victoria to Saint James Park. We took a lap around that, headed up to Hyde Park and did a big loop of that. My left foot hurt a little but my right achilles ached quite a bit. Grin and bear it... We rounded Hyde Park and made our way up to Marleybone where I lost Regina and made my way back home. My hamstrings were tight and I stopped numerous times to stretch them (which felt great). I made it to Victoria and I knew I was on my route back home. Back to Battersea Bridge. The weather was mixed, some heat and some awful rain so mixed conditions, but I guess you get that in London over the course of 3.5 hours! The climb back up Battersea Bridge Road is steep and tough but once I got to the top, it felt good as I was nearly home. It's kind of weird to leave the house just after 9am for a run and then not come back till lunchtime! But I got back and I was very relieved. Again, I couldn't have imagined running another step. I tried stretching a lot but my right achilles was really playing at me. Lots of water and food and rest felt good but the pain was pretty acute. The plan is for more rest - whilst I think I should ideally fit one more long run in, I think realistically I am going to have to taper from here and hopefully be in a reasonable state to even get to the Starting Line in under three weeks' time....