The Penultimate Blog

Road closure signs going up

One week to go and the tension in “team Tina’s" household is becoming tense to say the least. Seven days until one of the biggest Marathons and this year I will be one of those crazy people running 26.2 miles.

The advanced warning road closure signs are going up in Greenwich Park and the surrounding area and the delivery of hundreds upon hundreds of portaloos will soon be arriving. Everywhere I look it seems to relate to the London Marathon. Honestly, I feel all I am doing at the moment is eating, breathing talking blasted marathon. If I think about it too much my head starts to hurt! I need to start some meditation to calm myself down as I’m seriously starting to panic about the whole thing.

I don’t want to use the word "journey", so overused in all the reality shows these days, but what the heck I’m going to use it anyway because it has been one hell of a journey to get here.  

Everywhere I look relates to marathon day!

When I started this blog back in June last year, I said I would detail my training progress: “all the highs, most probably lots of lows, and lots and lots of WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THIS.” 

Well I’m glad to report there has been plenty of highs. Crushing my half marathon PB by shaving a whooping 13 minutes off and then to shave another minute off that PB the following month. And more recently literally flying round at a supersonic speed in my fastest 10K. 

Lots of lows. Do I really need to go into knee gate once again? Bashing my knee and incurring ligament damage in January wasn’t the greatest start to my training regime this year. Unable to run for nearly 10 weeks has been extremely stressful and I was totally beside myself having to pull out of the Big Half Marathon at the beginning of March.

Why The Hell Am I doing This? Yep, well I’m still asking myself that one. It seemed such a long time ago, well a year in fact, when I decided to take on this challenge. When you sign up for something so far in advance you never really expect it to finally come round, but round it has come.

Now not only is there still a proposed DLR strike but despite months of sub zero temperatures (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean), the weather now decides to creep up on the thermometer. Marathon day is looking to be slightly on the warm side. Oh why you blasted weather couldn’t you stay just a tad cool for another week? Oh well, it is what it is and I’ve got a week to climatise.

So the training is done - albeit the majority of mine in the gym. I’ve finally broken in my trainers and I’ve got my name printed on my running t.shirt. All that needs to be done now is taper, carb load and a quick trip to the Excel Centre in Docklands to the Marathon Expo to officially register and collect my running number and timing chip. Then it truly is countdown to the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon.

Wish me luck!