19.4 Miles and nearly dead!

We struggled through to the end of a 19.4 mile run on Saturday morning.

Much of the run - 15 miles or so was ok - but I think the infamous wall appeared 20 ft high and 100 miles wide at about his point. I am convinced that for a large part, this is psychological - the further we aim to run, the further the wall appears to appear, somewhere 30 minutes or so from the end. We should be happy though that we made it that far.

Paul is preparing a 20 miler for this weekend - if we can do that this and next weekend, and survive - with a little luck, we should feel ok about completing the 26.2 miles in 4 weeks time.

I am overawed, as i believe Paul is with the support of sponsors and simply well wishers. The day is going to be amazing - whatever the time or weather.

Tick Tock Tick........

The countdown continues and the day is getting ever nearer - by my reckoning - 40 days to go - it's getting scary!

We managed (just) 15 miles yesterday, around a route Paul came up with. Was fab for the most part - forest, rivers, bird sanctuary, lions (yes!!! lions) Paradise Wildlife Park - happily watched us as we ran by - Im sure they were grinning!! Our last half mile took us up Dig Dag Hill - Should be Dig Dag Hell - was not pleasant after 14 miles. But we made it - now for the next challenge.

Paul's cold seems to be hanging around a little still - but he's not one to suffer at the hands of man flu - and seems determined to complete this effort. Go Paul!!

Hopefully plenty of training this week - and then a long run Saturday - around 16-17 miles - mainly flat if i can help it!

Half Way and just 6 Weeks to go!!

Well we've managed the half way stage......13.2 miles to be exact, and came out unscathed.

The week started well with a 5 mile Fartlek session (fast/slow run), and then Gym work. Paul seems to have beaten off his cold so its full steam ahead again.

We then planned our 1/2 Marathon distance route on the excellent Route Planner System on the London Marathon website, bought some gooey glucose bars and set off early Saturday morning from Goffs Oak through to Theydon Bois (Epping Forest) via various places. The day was perfect - sunshine and a short shower, not too cold and little breeze. Two big hills certainly separated the man(Steve) from the boy(Paul) and a trudge through the wet forest didn't go down too well. But we made it and felt very positive afterwards.

A couple of days rest now and then back to traiing Tuesday.

Sponsorship is going very well - I reckon we've raised just short of £6k between us so far.

Sick note

With just eight weeks to go before the big day, it's starting to dawn on me what i have let myself in for! Steve & i attempt the half marathon distance on Saturday morning & this will be a good indicator of how we are placed to complete the real thing. Unfortunatley for me, i have been ill for the past couple of weeks with this flu bug that everyone seems to know about. I won't give you details of the horrible symptoms but needless to say it effects my breathing. This has meant that i have not been out running as often as needed & makes me worry about being prepared.

I cheered myself up by buying some very nice running shoes, shirt & short but still fall short of Steve as he has the special socks!!! Still, not to worry as i now have my first forfeit challange won & am worried for Steve as i feel he may struggle to lift himself to actually win one which means that i will look forward to posting lots of pictures on this site of Steve wearing womens cloths, wearing pants on the outside, singing to strangers & many more strange acts.

Paul 1 Steve 0 (Forfeit Score)

We haven't written much about the mere 220 mile bike ride we are doing just 2 weeks after the marathon - so I'll start to make amends.

The ride takes us from Newcastle, up the Northumberland coastline and then inland via places such as Galashiels and Coldstream - and we end up heading north to Edinburgh.

To add some fun - we are going to give each other forfeits on the journey, and on the final booze night in Edinburgh at the end. In order to decide on the who has to pay the forfeits, we are playing various sports and games between now and then - whoever loses, gets a forfeit added to their list. We played tennis last night - 2 hour match - Paul eventually won 7-6 7-6 - the git! Consequently I have a forfeit to pay during or after the bike ride. Now - we have to play squash, badminton, darts, table hockey, risk, trivial pursuit et al to determine the remaining forfeits. I need to wipe the grin off Paul's face....please!

If anyone has any ideas about forfeits we can pay - please blog them here!

Cut out the booze!!!

Too many late boozy nights, fun though they were, has not helped my training efforts over the past couple of weeks - mind wants to train but the body does not approve! - although another milestone has been achieved. Last Friday night I ran a full 12 miles, on the flat, at the gym. With my Archos Gadget (personal media player) in front of me - watching Doctor Who of all things - I managed the run in a half decent time, and no aches afterwards.

Unfortunately, Pauls' been unwell, and hasn't been able to run so much. Hopefully soon he'll be back on the treadmill.

Bought a new running shirt today (Valentines Day), special socks (yes Special socks!) arrived in the post the other day. Just my shorts to sort now since I really need to stop the chaffing.

Please add to our Blog if you wish.

Legs 11!

From Cuffley to Brookmans Park to Little Heath to Potters Bar to Northaw to Cuffley- 11 mile run. Not bad 6 weeks in!

Paul arrived with a snotty nose (I think it must have been one of those morning after mornings!). We set off and kept pretty steady for 6 - 7 miles. Got little tougher towards the end - some hills - especially Tolmers right at he end - but we made it.

Legs are a little stiff to say the least - MUST WARM DOWN PROPERLY!

Now for that half marathon!