2 weeks to go till the marathon, 2 days before we leave for Florida.

I got in my last 11 miles along the canal, wondering if I'll ever do this again... never say never?
The dreary rain rolled in just as I got home, so my timing was good.

Starting to pack for Florida... shorts? swimsuit? sunscreen??? huh. Where is all that stuff?

The place Billy parents booked looks like heaven, "Tranquility Bay" near Marathon (!!) FL at the end of the Florida Keys. And we're stopping on the way south from Miami to buy me an early birthday present... a cool new Apple Air laptop. I'm so excited!

I need to make sure I don't gain 5 pounds next week, but othewise, I'm going to enjoy every minute.

Three Weeks to go
With an Easter storm promised I ran my 19.45 mile last long run on Thursday. But honestly, I feel like I could have kept on going... until I sat in the car and my legs started cramping up. Probably not a very safe drive home! 3 hr 40 min 11:17 ave pace, which included a stop at the Rickmansworth Sailing Club toilets. So now I'm in taper mode! Nelly kept me company and we managed to do most of the run before the rain hit, but Nelly was still a mess from puddles along the canal.

Ali and I ran a 10K race in the sleet and snow today (Saturday). It was ridiculous, really, we should have stayed home, but we feel pretty smug now that its over. Ali didn't wear the gloves or hat I gave her, so she really froze! Ali finished in 58:44 and I followed at 59:20. The winning woman, Liz Hartney ran in 37:38

Hmm.. a bit faster!

Nike + was useless!! I had the sensor in my trail shoes linked with the sensor, and only remembered to link it with my other shoes once we were waiting for the start. The receiver couldn't link to my shoes because there were too many other nike+ sensors about!!! So 6 miles I can't count in Nike+ challenges

Easter Sunday is a well deserved rest day! Bring on the chocolate!

One month to go...

I visited the Guide Dog training centre in Leaminton Spa last Friday and heard lots of heartwarming success stories about dogs that had changed people's lives. What a great cause.

The training is going much better than I had feared a month ago. I managed 17 miles last weekend, my longest ever (run a mile, walk a minute from Kings Langley to Denham and back to Maple Cross on the Grand Union Canal). Ali, my 21-yr old daughter, ran with me for the first 8 miles and then swapped out with Nick, my 23-yr old son, for the second 9. I really felt honoured that they wanted to support me. I limped around with new aches and pains early this week and only got back over a 5 mile run on Friday! But if I run 5 again today I'll be back to 35 miles for the week.

So this Sunday is only 10-12 miles before I press ahead for my max 20 mile run next weekend (three weeks before the FLM)..... Arg only a month to go! I've got new podcast episodes hoarded for the run tomorrow, so I'll brave it by myself.

My new Nike Pegasus feel great but I'm trying to wean myself from using them now so that the newness is not gone for the marathon. I've put in just over 100 miles on them now with no sign of blisters.

I started looking at the London Marathon course yesterday and thought I might try some long runs along the course - but it follows busy streets. There's no way I'll suck in all that exhaust and noise! I'll just have to keep running London parks, the Grand Union Canal and trails near home and wait for the Sunday they close the roads for the Marathon and be surprised.

The marathon seems to have taken over my life but maybe that's the same for everyone the first time.

Mothers Day Run - 6 weeks to go

OK I admit, I did have to offer to pay him £50, and he's a super-broke postgrad student, but think that Nick did enjoy our 16 mile run today. (UK Mother's day is not the same as USA). He did mention that most his friends just had to endure a long Sunday lunch....

Beautiful day running along the canal. Nick was not keen on the run/walk method and found it hard to get into the rhythm after walking a minute each mile. But he offered to run another training run if we could run it. I'll give it a try!

I brought him some AirAide back from the states on Marci's suggestion, as he suffers from allergies/asthma, and he thinks it helped, so THANKS Marci! With the FFT tape on my foot, the plantar fasciitis is not a really problem anymore, which is a huge relief!

A good start to the week, and I hope to get in a few more 6-8 mile long runs this week before moving up to an 18 mile target for next weekend's long run.