Here are some words of advice and tips on getting started:

Before even having the thought of running a marathon, you should have been running regularly for about a year, averaging at least 30 km per week.

You should be able to finish a half marathon without stopping or walking.

Join a running club or find a regular training buddy

Follow a 16 week marathon training programme, with the aim of completing at least 90% of the training runs

Check & clear your life schedule for the 4 months before the marathon. You will need to run at least 4 times a week – will you have enough time before or after work?

Training is exhausting; will your work commitments allow you to get enough rest?

Write down your reasons for wanting to run a marathon.

As your training intensifies, you will need more sleep, more food & more water. Are you willing to give up social vices for 4 months to get the best out of your training?

As part of your training, sign up to do a couple of races.

Don’t over do it, take a rest day if you’re injured or just too tired.

Staying well hydrated before & during runs seems to speed up post run recovery

Chose a marathon pace that you can maintain for the duration of a marathon and train to that pace.

Incorporate hills & interval training in your schedule.

Do not miss any of your Long Slow Runs on the weekend

Don’t panic in the last 2 weeks and try to cram in long runs. The last 2 weeks are for rest & giving you the strength to go the distance.

Most importantly, do not do anything different in the last week or on the day that you haven’t done in training. Eat the same food, wear the same kit etc.

Running for 4 hours is hard and very taxing on ones body. Training & preparation is everything.

“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”

As my friend Jennifer was running the half marathon that started at 8am, I was up fairly early on Sunday morning. We had a fire alarm at the hotel at 11pm the night before but this didn’t seem to affect my sleep. I slept soundly for about 8 hours. I felt quite calm in the days & hours leading up to the race, in fact I didn’t have any of my usual pre-race jitters.

I had a small bowl of porridge made with water, salt & flaxseed. I drank quite a bit of water before the race and ate a Torq power bar. I had an hour by myself to mentally prepare for the race, during this time I took 5 mins to visualise myself running along in the sunshine admiring the scenery and feeling no pain. I also spoke out loud my goal and various positive affirmations. Mum & Glenda met me at the hotel and we walked 30 mins to the Regent Road start area – 2 more pee stops before the start. It was misty, humid and cool before the start. I had checked the weather report and knew it was going to be a hot day. The gun went at 10am and it took me 15mins to walk to the start. I took a bottle of 50/50 Lucozade & water which I kept sipping and I drank a 250ml bottle of water at every water station. The first 12 km were all downhill to the coast, passing below the gorse covered slopes of Arthur’s Seat, a delightful children’s choir in Holyrood Park got some “Awww”’s from the runners. At around 10km a lone piper got me feeling emotional about running in Scotland. As the course heading along the foreshore, the mist began to burn away to reveal a cloudless, blazing hot sky. There was not a breath of wind and the Cockenzie power was visible through the haze way in the distance.

At 13 km I started to feel a bit wobbly – anxiety waves & hot. I decided to have my first gel, a bit earlier than I intended but I felt instantly better and felt great for the rest of the race. At 16 km I could a large New Zealand Silver Fern flag waving above the crowd, I ran over to see mum & Glenda cheering me on and trying to take a photo. Running up through the housing area in Prestonpans, the locals were out with garden hoses & water pistols to cool us runners down, I ran under all hoses and took a couple of jelly babies being handed out. Just after the 21km half way point I saw the leading runners steaming toward the finish – another 2 hours to go for me! There was even a man dressed as a banana who was going to put in a fast time!

The long coastal stretch out to Gosford house was taking it’s toll in the heat and more & more runners were slowing down or walking, but not me, I just kept trundling along a 6 min/km. I was now taking 2 bottles of water at each water station, throwing one bottle over my head and drinking the other. At 25 km, I passed Superman, at 29 km, I passed Batman – I was feeling pretty super human for enduring the heat and still running at a decent pace. Gosford House was lovely, shady trees and blue bells. Then from 30 km, it was back along the coast to the finish, once again, Cockenzie power station was way in the distance, shimmering in the heat. From 30 km, I started to see the first heat affected runners receiving medical attention. Also, I estimate about 70-80% of runners were now walking or stopping frequently. This was very frustrating for me as I had to keep dodging and weaving which I’m sure slowed me down.

One of the water stations was rather narrow and everyone stopped, I nearly fell over as I tried to keep running through the station. The last 10 km were the hardest. The sun was right overhead, no shade, no wind and sheltered by building, it was so hot the tarmac on the road had melted, it must have been 26˚C. I took advantage of any garden hoses being sprayed by locals and had some more jelly babies.

My ankles and feet began to hurt at 36 km and I struggled to keep pace. I started to need a toilet stop, but I decided to plough on to the finish because of the waist high nettles growing beside the road, soon I was only 5 km from the finish, then 1 km, then I was actually in the Musselburgh race course with the finish in sight. Mum & Glenda had a good spot right at the front and saw me run to the finish. I felt quite emotional approaching the finish as all the training & the event was now completed and over so quickly.

As soon as I collected my medal & goodie bag, I went to the loo, scoffed a banana, drank more water & made my way through the crowds to the reunion area. My legs and back were very painful.

Once I met up with Mum, Glenda & Jennifer. I enjoyed a sit down in the shade and my first beer in 3 weeks. I had my protein shake, a Snickers bar & a welsh cake.

We finally made a move to head back to Edinburgh at 4pm. After walking for 30mins to Wallyford train station we rammed ourselves on a packed train.

After showering and getting changed we all met up for dinner at an American pizza restaurant across from the hotel, where I had more beer and demolished a 12” pizza.

My results are as follows:

I finished 4030 out of 9460, in the top 43% of runners overall

I finished 766 out of 2770 female runners, in the top 28% of female runners

10k: 01:00:08
Half: 02:07:54
30k: 03:02:48
Marathon: 04:17:08

Here’s a link to the run as recorded by my Garmin GPS watch

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34260992

Lessons Learnt – What I would do different next time?

I wish I had joined the running club sooner or found a permanent training partner

I should have trained at a sub 4 hour pace

I should have done more core exercises

I should do cross training activities

I should have put tape on my back to prevent chaff

More stretching

All in all, the race went well and I’m pleased with my time and the effort I put in. Also, that I survived the heat.

So what’s next?

An ultra marathon in one year?

London marathon next April?

Brighton marathon next March?

just a quick pre-race update - my last week before the marathon was spent doing some short runs - just two 6 k runs around Gunnersbury Park. I also met up with the running club on Thursday night for some mobility drills and warm ups.

I started my carbo load on Wednesday night with a huge meal of home made spaghetti bolognese, Thursday was brown rice with chicken & veggies for breakfast & dinner with more spaghetti for dinner.

Friday I flew up to Edinburgh, but managed more home made carbo food - brown rice, prawns & veggies for breakfast & more spaghetti for lunch.

The weather in Edinburgh is amazing at the moment - hot & sunny with clear blue skies.

I met up with my mum & aunt Glenda for some sight seeing. We had a good look around Edinburgh Castle, then went for a pub dinner of roast chicken. 

Jennifer arrived about 10pm. 

On Saturday, I was keen not to do too much walking. Jennifer & I went for a massive breakfast at a nice hotel restaurant (Glasshouse, next to Frasers) Then we wandered around the shops.

Then I met up with mum & Glenda for a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia, well worth a look. I saw Britannia in NZ back in 1990 & I never thought I'd get to go on board.

Annoyingly, we had a fire alarm evacuation last night at 11pm, after we had been asleep for an hour. It took me a while to get back to sleep again.

Race day morning - Jennifer had an early start for her 1/2 marathon. Porridge for breakfast & a Torq power bar. 

I'm all dressed and ready to run. I've been drinking plenty of water, about 4 litres a day since Wednesday.

The weather has clouded over and we've had a short heavy rain shower, it's still humid but a bit cooler than it has been.

I'm feeling about as ready as I can be - I'm excited and looking forward to reaching the finish line and completing my greatest personal achievement. I first got the idea of running a marathon back in 2000 and it's taken me 10 years to get around to it. I've been running for 18 months and I've trained for 18 weeks for today.

It's hard to believe that at the beginning of 2007 I struggled to even walk I was so overweight and my feet were in such pain.

In the words of Cartman:

"Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake. Beefcake!"

Well, actually I already have – after 18 weeks of training; I’ve run a total of 656 km which is the distance from London to Edinburgh (by road)

Here’s some more stats for you:

That’s 3 days of continuous running or 8.5 days if I ran for 8 hours a day at my marathon pace of 6 min/km

That’s 15.5 marathons. Not quite Eddie Izzards level!

To be fair, my mileage is actually quite low! But my legs are short. That’s my excuse anyways.

I’ve burnt off 40000 calories, which is 80 Big Macs or 183 pints of beer or 60 All Day Breakfast sandwiches from Pret-a-Manger or 75 bars of Green & Black chocolate.

Apparently, 40000 calories equals 11 pounds of fat! I guess if I’d not eaten so much whilst training, I would have lost a stone in weight.

I haven’t lost any weight, I’m the same as when I started training but my clothes are a little looser, so I’ve lost something, but quite not 11 lbs of fat.

This week has been all about tapering my mileage and effort. Plus staying away from sick people. My pet hate is “company martyrs” – people who are sick who struggle in to work when there’s no need to, only to infect everyone else in the office. Stay home!

My training last week was as follows:

Monday I ran just over 8km and met up with my flatmate Lara at the Park Club and went to a yoga/stretch class, which was really good. It showed just how stiff my hamstrings are!

Tuesday I ran around Gunnersbury Park, 6.3 km in 32 mins

Wednesday was a day off.

Thursday, I ran 5 km down to the sports fields to meet up with the West 4 Harriers for mobility drills – sprints, lunges etc

Friday & Saturday were days off. Though I did a bit of walking on Saturday after a huge lunch of a chicken burger & chips with Hannah – oh, and ice cream, 2 scoops, yum.

Sunday was the last long run, 14 km up to Twickenham Bridge & back in 1:22. The towpath was very busy that morning with people running in the Richmond half marathon and others doing a 16 mile charity walk for breast cancer awareness. It was a bit windy & showery but made pleasant by the heavy scent of blue bells from Kew Gardens.

Here’s a link to the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33432907

My fund raising is exceptional, I’ve received a fantastic amount of support and with matching giving from Network Rail, I will be raising over £2000 for my two charities, half for The Mayhew & half for Cancer Research UK.

It’s never too late for a donation and no amount is too small (or big!) please click on the link www.justgiving.com/kiwi-nesa

Donating through just giving is secure and quick!

You won’t get spammed and by making a personal donation, the charity gets an extra 20% (approx) through Gift Aid

 It’s so quick & easy, trust me, it only takes 6 clicks or less than 3 mins to make a donation. What’s 3 mins compared to 4.5 hours of running?!

Despite being well into the month of May, the spring weather still remains cold, about 5 degrees below the monthly average.

The spring blue bells are out in the parks and the trees finally have leaves again.

Monday was a holiday so I went out for a quick morning run around Gunnersbury Park, 6 km in 32 mins

Monday turned into a very boozy BBQ – which would be my last alcohol until after the marathon.

I woke up feeling very jaded and in need of lots of water.

I went down to Chiswick to join the running club for some hill training as punishment. Surprisingly, I coped quite well and the hills are not as bad as the first time. We ran the same drills as last week which consisted of x3 circuits with a 60% effort up the Ballet School Hill, then x3 down hill runs at 80% effort then 6 min hill circuit around the Ballet School. Finishing with a jog back to Chiswick.

I had a rest day on Wednesday where I weeded the garden for over 2 hours. Due to the amount of over grown deep rooted weeds in my garden, this was quite a work out! Pulling out weeds is a lot easier when you’ve got arm muscles almost like Madonna.

Thursday I ran down to join the running club for mobility drills at the Westminster University fields. Then we all assembled on Chiswick Bridge for a 3 mile time trial race. I managed quite a good time for me – 3 miles in 22.52 mins. At this pace, I would run 5 km in under 25 mins.

I didn’t stay for a drink afterwards because I’m staying away from drinking and I was hungry.

I had a quiet night in on Friday, I want to make sure I get plenty of rest over the next 2 weeks.

Saturday was my last long run. The day was miserable for running. Cold, windy and rain showers. I set off about 10:30 wearing only my minimal race kit. I probably wasn’t dressed warmly enough, because my left hand became very cold to the point of being numb and hard to move. I had to keep dropping my left arm by my side and shaking my hand to get some feeling in to my hand. I stopped for water at 13 km and I had a gel at 17 km. I ran 24 km in a total elapsed time of 2:23, but with a moving average pace of 5.40 min/km

Here’s a link to the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32554460

I saw a house in Barnes that that has a full size NASA space man on their balcony – I can’t believe I only just noticed that, surely it must be new?!

I had a long shower to warm up when I go in. Followed by a cup of tea and a delicious lunch of roast new potatoes, chicken & veggies.

The next 2 weeks will be all about tapering my running distances, losing some weight, hydrating, eating well and staying healthy.

I recovered well from my big 33 km run and I was back out with the running club on Tuesday for a hill session at Richmond Park – this consisted of x3 circuits with a 60% effort up the Ballet School Hill, then x3 down hill runs at 80% effort then 6 min hill circuit around the Ballet School. Finishing with a jog back to Chiswick.

I didn’t run on Wednesday because I went into London to collect my bag that I left at Hannah’s from Jennie. Then I met up with Kelly for dinner and a walk.

Thursday I ran down to Chiswick for interval training with the running club. We jogged to Barnes then did x1 10 min effort, with 5 min rest then x1 10 min effort back to Barnes.

I managed to run just over 2km’s in the 10 mins with my pace averaging 4.48 min/km on the first effort & 4.53 min/km on the second effort. Then jogged back to Chiswick for a beer at the club house. I wish I could maintain that pace for the marathon, sadly I was a gasping wreck after only 10 mins!

Saturday’s big run should have been another 30 kms but I planned to go out in Brixton to see Deadmau5. I didn’t want to be too tired to go out dancing!

I met up with Jef in Putney and we set off about 9:30am for a Putney – Kew Bridge Thames Path loop. I was hoping to try & maintain a pace of 5:40 min/km, but that didn’t happen, I guess I was just tired. We stopped a couple of times – once for water & the loo and again to extract a gnat that flew into Jef’s eye. We ran 21.4 km in 2:12, with a pace of 6.10 min/km

It was a good day for a run, mostly cloudy and not too hot. Ideally, I like to be feeling cold when I set off on a run, because I tend to warm up quite quickly.

I tried some different energy gels this time – I had one Powergel at 10km and a caffeinated Powergel at 17 km.

Here’s a link to the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31840810

I’m feeling very nervous about having done enough training – I’ve really only done 2 big runs, a 29 km & a 33 km. Plus I haven’t cross trained and I’ve neglected my core exercises. With only 2 weeks to go, there’s nothing I can do about that! I’ve done all the training I can now and next week my tapering begins.

All is not lost though! What I can do is lose weight, core exercises, concentrate on food & hydration, stretching and get the last of my fundraising.

I also need to get some good rest & sleep. Thankfully I have no major aches & pains.

I bought some bright pink iron-on letters to put my name on the front of my shirt – I’ll need all the encouragement I can get from the crowd!

I’m now just 4 weeks away from my big day, but for the 35000 people running in the London marathon their big day is now over. I met up with friends Beth & Marcia to watch the elite runners at mile 25. Wow, those professionals sure do run fast!

They had a perfect day for running – overcast, no wind and not too hot.

Unlike me for my big run on Saturday, which was the hottest day of the year so far!

But I’ll get to that after I’ve detailed the week building up to my longest training run.

And an amazing amount of money was raised for charity at the London Marathon – I’m only 29% away from my fundraising goal

www.justgiving.com/kiwi-nesa

I had rest night on Monday, which was well needed after the massive walk around Richmond Park last Sunday.

Tuesday night I went down to the running club for hill training. I took the bus this time as I wanted have plenty of energy for the intense work out. We jogged up to Richmond Park then split in to 2 groups and ran an inner park circuit of 3 75% efforts. I’m by far the slowest and I only seem to have one pace, which is flat out 5.20 min/km, or 90% effort! I was a grasping wreck at the end of each fast run.  11.5 km run in total.

I met a SA lady who had just run the Two Oceans 56k ultra marathon in South Africa, it was interesting to hear about her training and how she enjoyed the race – all 6 hours of it! Inspiring as she runs about the same pace as me and had only run 1 marathon before tackling her first ultra.

Wednesday night I decided not to go out for a run because I just felt tired and needed an early night.

Thursday night I ran down to the sports fields in Chiswisk to meet up with the running club, first for mobility drills then interval sprints.

I had a terrible jog down to the fields, it’s only 4.5 km and I really struggled. I had to stop a couple of times due to horrendous stomach pains & stitch. Plus I felt really unfocused to the point of my vision starting to swim. My tinnitus was extremely loud too. I wasn’t too sure if I would start for the interval session as it was going to be intense. However, once I was with people and I was given tasks to focus on, I started to feel better. I stayed for the interval training and I managed to keep up, kind of – I was about 5 sec slower than the others. The interval training was as follows:

x2 500m, x2 400m, x2 300m, x5 200m, x5 100m with 4 min rest between each interval, except the 200 & 100m sprints

My total distance run was 11.5 km

I had an absolutely terrible nights sleep on Thursday and I felt tired all day on Friday.

Now on to the big full dress rehearsal training run on Saturday.

Three days before the run I began to increase the amount of high carb food I was eating,– in addition to my normal porridge for breakfast I had toast with peanut butter, for an afternoon snack on Wednesday and Thursday I had 100g pasta with veggies. Dinner on Wed & Thurs was 100g spaghetti with beef bolognese sauce. For lunch on all 3 days I had a large wholemeal bread roll with roast pork & salad. Friday I had 100g brown rice with roast pork & broccoli at 5pm. I had a small dinner of chicken, new potatoes & salad at about 8:30pm.

To make the run more enjoyable and to involve my friends, most of who won’t be coming up to Edinburgh I arranged for them to meet me at 5 km points en route with water & Lucozade

I stopped off at home to shower & change and collect my running kit and made my way over to Hannah’s place. After a delicious light dinner I was so tired I had to go to bed.

I woke up at 6am feeling much better & slightly nervous about the prospect of my water bottle relay across London. The weather was beautiful! No clouds, no wind & warm.

I had my porridge oats made with water for breakfast about 6:30am, had my shower. The watched tv (Magnum P.I) until it was time to leave. I had my last food, a power bar at 8am.

The first 5k through Peckham to the river was uneventful – I got slightly lost between Jamaica road & the river. I met Kat by HMS Belfast for my first water bottle pick up. I had to stop for a few seconds to fill up my first water bottle as Kat couldn’t find a bottle with a sipper top. I carried on along the Thames Path, dodging all the crowds at London Eye and around Westminster – I met up with Annabel at the 10 km point where she jogged with me for a few minutes. I had my first gel and a big drink of Lucozade at this point. Jef met me at 11.5km on Grosvenor Road, where we crossed back over to the south side of the river at Chelsea Bridge, after Battersea Park, the day was getting noticeably warmer. At the 15 km point we found Tiia waiting with more water & Lucozade. We weaved from the Thames Path to some boring industrial areas through Wandsworth. I was starting to feel the heat and distance at 19 kms so I had another gel. Listening to Jef recount her recent “holiday” to a triathlon training camp in Grand Canary helped immensely to take my mind off the task at hand. In Putney we meet Suvi who had bravely ventured out for a run in the hot sun with a hangover. We all took a slight detour to Jef’s flat in Putney for a quick toilet stop, my half marathon point of 21 km. All 3 of us continued to Hammersmith Bridge, where Suvi & Jef turned back to Putney and I was met by Tony at 23 km. Over Hammersmith Bridge and on to the sun drenched north side of The Thames. The warm sunny day was not ideal for a long run, but having someone to run with took my mind off being uncomfortable. I stopped for another toilet break at The Ship pub, at 24.5km. At the end of Chiswick Mall, we were met by Aiden (my house mate) who had come down by bike. Tony had decided to carry on a bit further – I was very grateful that he did as my motivation started to wane at the 30 km point. I had another gel and perked up a bit. By Kew Bridge I had already run 31 km, so I decided not to run the extra 4 km around Gunnersbury Park. From Kew Bridge to home is all up hill. As my house is close a bus route that Tony could take home, he continued running with me right to the end. Once I got home, I drank a bottle of Lucozade, a pint of water, a pint of chocolate protein shake, ate a banana then took a shower. I must have smelled bad! I was covered in fine salt crystals too. I had BBQ chicken & new potatoes with butter for lunch – yum!

Surprisingly, I felt good after the run, I managed to talk the whole way and kept a pace of about 6.20 min/km. If I had continued running at that pace, I would have completed a marathon in 4 hours 27 mins.

The only thing that was a bit annoying was the Lucozade & maybe gels, seem to make me rather gassy – not pleasant for me or others! I got stitch at about 22 km, probably from talking or carrying my water bottle.

I haven’t developed any aches or pains and my left foot seems to have repaired its self. My quads and ankles were sore the next day but I’m fine now, after 2 days rest. Oh, I’ve got a 3 cm fabric burn across my lower back from where my waist bag was rubbing.

The total time & distance was: 33.56 km in 3:32

Here’s the link to the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31054271

I really think I have a good chance of running a sub 4 hour marathon, this would mean maintaining a pace of 5.40 min/km. My ½ marathon pace is 5.25 min/km.

For my long run this Saturday, I’m going to try keeping to a 5.40 min/km pace, seeing if I can do it.

This week will be my last week of any intense training, from next Monday I will be tapering – reducing my distances and intensity, trying not to gain weight. During the week before the marathon I will begin my 3 day carb loading and hydration

After a flurry of fundraising activity the week before, this week saw no increase in my amount raised – with 4 weeks to go and £300 to raise, I need all those who haven’t been to my just giving page to make good on those promises of sponsorship!

I’ve managed to shift the weight I gained over Easter and I’m 1.3kg away from my ideal race weight, with my distances tapering off from next week, I’ll have to be careful of my calorie intake so I don’t gain any extra. The week leading up to the marathon will be all about low fat, plain, plain carb rich foods.

On Monday night, I ran down to Chiswick to meet up with the running club for an easy evening run from Chiswick, up the towpath to the draw bridge at Kew Gardens (opposite Syon House) Then back to Chiswick. Talking all the way.

Tuesday night I went out for dinner with my work colleagues at Jamie’s Italian in Reading, not a bad dinner, it tasted good but it could have been better. My truffle oil chips were cooked to the point of being dried husks.

Wednesday night was a lovely evening – I ran up to Twickenham Bridge and back, 14 km in 1:17. I saw another strange “only in London” sight – a group of Hasidic Jews watching people race outrigger canoes up the Thames. I saw woman walking her pet rabbit on lead too – odd. There are clouds of gnats about at the moment, I tried in vain to swat them away but still ended up swallowing a few.

Thursday night was a clear evening with a very chilly North West wind blowing across the fields. I ran down to Chiswick and met up with the running club, first for 40 mins of mobility drills then 12 times 300m sprints across the fields. I didn’t think I would manage all 12 sprints, but I kept up with a lady who was running at my pace and she spurred me on to complete the last 2 sprints.

West London is a lot more pleasant at the moment without all the planes flying over on their way to Heathrow.

I sent my Garmin 405 watch off to be fixed on Friday and I’m borrowing a replacement from a very kind friend until mine is returned.

My official marathon race vests arrived from the printers on Saturday, with The Mayhew logo on the back.

Friday & Saturday were rest days in preparation for Sunday’s race.

We had a beautiful weekend and we dusted off the BBQ on Saturday and had a delicious meat feast.

Sunday was an early start for the Fullers Towpath Ten. Up at 6am with breakfast at 7am. I met Kat & Tiia at the start in Chiswick at 8:30am. There was not a cloud or airplane in the sky! The race started at 9:30 with 2 laps of the playing fields to spread the runners out, then up to Twickenham Bridge, down Richmond Rd, back along the Towpath to the finish. It was a hot day for running, well for me it was! Although I ran in 1:27, I felt like it was a struggle toward the end. I had a gel at about 12km. I only had a small bowl of oats for b’fast and no energy bar, so maybe I didn’t eat enough.

I seem to have a finite amount of mental stamina allocated to each run – I’m equally exhausted on a 5km run as on a 21km run with my pace staying the same for each. I’d need to run with others who chose the route & distance, without telling me. This kind of happens at the running club, which is what I need!

Here's a link to the run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30608750

After the race – Tiia, Kat & I walked up Richmond Park via the Sheen Gate. After what seemed like forever we stopped for our picnic lunch and to catch some sunshine. The day remained cloudless, hot & sunny all day. We only stopped for about an hour and a half before I thought it would be a good idea to find Isabella Plantation in the middle of Richmond Park. We walked & walked for ages in the blazing sun carrying heavy bags, making several wrong turns until we finally found it and we were all too spent to enjoy the gardens! We bought some more water at a coffee kiosk and plotted our course to get to the Richmond Gate exit. I was so shattered by this point I briefly considered calling a cab, however, the sun had begun to dip and the temperature had cooled down. With motivation from Tiia – we set off to get out of the park.

We all perked up once we got into the shade of the trees and drank some water. We walked for about 4 hours, covering 18 kms, cross country, through herds of deer. The others had been complaining about not getting enough exercise in the winter and we managed to achieve their exercise quota for the year in one day!

Following the completion of my long run over Easter, I spent all of Easter Sunday baking cookies to use as persuasion for sponsorship from my work colleagues. I managed to bake about 120 cookies! I made ANZAC biscuits, chocolate chip biscuits, hazel nut chocolate cookies & white chocolate cranberry cookies. I spent over 4 hours baking and I was so exhausted I needed to take an afternoon nap, the first one of my life! I went out with friends that evening and I spent most of Easter Monday sleeping.

My cookies were very well received at work and I raised a good amount of sponsorship, I’m now only 27% away from my target goal. With 6 weeks until the marathon, now is the time for a big fund raising push – let’s see if I can become The Mayhew’s top fund raiser on Just Giving! (I’m currently in 2^nd place)

Just some personal thoughts on event fund raising - I watched a documentary on the London marathon and it got me thinking that charity fund raising has become big business. I think fund raising should be a choice and not a condition of participating in an event. I’m particularly against event fundraising where part of the money raised goes toward paying for the event – i.e raising £3k, with £1500 going toward your holiday & £1500 to the charity. I should have got you all to pay for my trip to Ibiza and given the remainder to The Mayhew! I hasten to add: ALL the money I raise goes directly to The Mayhew. My flights, accomodation and race entry fee are all paid for by me. (Just Giving take a 5% fee though)

I wonder if event fund raising is reaching saturation point?

Here’s a quote I’ve taken from Urban Dictionary relating to “charity fatigue” This quote is also a direct reference to Game Theory that has shaped Western Society since the Cold War:

 “Charity fatigue is caused ultimately by the ever-increasing phenomenon of self-interest fostered in societies that have had a paradigm shift from believing it was a civic responsibility for the better-off to protect the less fortunate to that of a user-pays, dog-eat-dog, each-for-themself dystopia. And as a result, the disadvantaged have to scrape together their own resources, competing not only against other charities, but vying for the belief* most of us cannot afford to give - due to the need for us to service our own out-of-control disease of consumerism.” Urban Dictionary (slightly amended for clarity)

Back to the training!

On Tuesday night I meet up with the running club again. This was a much more intense run than the first one I went on! I ran down to the club to warm up, that’s 4km.

The other 10 runners all looked like lean serious runners (that's because they are!), we ran from the club to Richmond Park via the Sheen Gate, about 4km. Then proceeded to do hill training - 10mins up & down a small valley, then 3 reps of hill sprints, then another 3 circuits of hill sprints then a slow jog back to the club. All up, about 16km for me! I forgot to restart my Garmin, so I’m not too sure exactly how far I ran, but it was a lot more that I planned to do on a Tuesday! I limped home and put frozen peas on my sore foot.

Despite the intensity of the hill training session, I had a good time & met some more nice people.

Wednesday was a well needed rest night, more ice for my sore left foot, which is improving.

On Thursday I jogged down to the running club again, I was only intending to run with them if it wasn’t going to be an intense session. Luckily, it was only mobility drills then a 5 km time trial. Unfortunately, I got a bit lost on the time trial and didn’t end up finishing, oh well, next month! I stayed on for a beer and signed up as a member to the club. Annoyingly, my Garmin 405 watch decided to crash & freeze half way through the evening. I reset it several times and it unfroze but would not upload activities to my PC. I carried out a master reset and that seems to have returned it to normal. The only thing I did to possibly cause it to malfunction was I left it on charge all day, normally I only have it on charge long enough to reach 100% then I disconnect it. Hopefully, it doesn’t fail on me again; it’s not even 1 year old!

No running on Friday or Saturday, more rest & ice packs for my sore left foot, which is feeling 99% better.

Sunday was a lovely spring day, just perfect for a long run, semi cloudy about 14 deg with a slight breeze. I set off about 11am, probably a bit late but I started watching a DVD (The Cove) & doing my laundry when I got up. I ran down to Kew Bridge, along the Surrey side towpath to Hammersmith Bridge, over to the Middlesex side towpath, back up to Kew Bridge, up to & around Gunnersbury Park, then to home. 22.3 km in 2 hrs 15min. Including 2 stops, 1 for the toilet at 11 km and the other to buy a bottle of water at 17 km. That’s a 6 min/km pace. And that’s the pace I think I’ll run the marathon at.

My left foot was ok and seems to be almost back to 100%. My ankles were quite sore, so I taped ice pack to both ankles and put my feet up. I’m feeling ok today, no major aches or pains. I’ve put on a bit of weight over Easter, eating 8 hot cross buns may have been excessive! Ideally I like to be 49kg or less on race day morning. I plan to eat whatever over the next couple of weeks, but over the 4 week taper down to the marathon, I’ll have to be mindful of my calories as I won’t be doing big runs and I don’t want to be carrying anything extra on the big day.