The Final Countdown!

De duh der der
De duh de de der
De duh der der
De duh de der der der der!

Etc.

Crazy, bleached-perm, Euro soft rock classics aside, I am now in my final week and have just been treated to a thorough pasting at the powerful hands (and elbows) of Hannelle, my sports masseuse. Ouch.

Much needed though. My left leg was beyond tight and excruciatingly painful from hip to toe. It's been hammered accordingly and now feels a lot looser and lighter.

Thankfully, my right leg was nowhere near as bad, so the air was only blue for half an hour!

This week, I've got two very gentle four milers to do: one tomorrow and one on Thursday. And the race itself.

This is it! I am ready to take on the London Marathon. This isn't just about participation; it's about competing and completing it as fast as I can.

I'm fitter, faster and stronger than I've ever been, so this is the best chance I've had so far in my life.

I can't wait!

Apologies in advance for the copious updates that will no doubt follow as the week progresses.

We're heading for Venus.

Well...Docklands!

Fifteen!

Penultimate week. Fifteen down, one to go.

Only 29 miles to do this week. No probs. If you've not already run the best part of 600.

A tough week, but I'm tougher!

I can't even remember what we did now - I think it was a four and two seven and a halves during the week.

By far and away the highlight was our gorgeous, crisp Sunday morning ten miler on quiet, hilly pavements. I'm actually really looking forward to doing such runs with no ulterior motive; no incentive but the act of running, itself.

So, the finish is in sight. It's on The Mall and there's a big shiny medal at the end of it!

Week 14!

What better way to end a very tough week than to receive my mind running vest through the post.

And isn't it a bobby dazzler?!

We've both been feeling the cumulative effects of our training schedule this week, so it's been good to get it over with and start tapering.

On reflection, only taking Monday off after Sunday's long run was not enough rest because, by the time Friday was upon us and we'd covered another 21 miles, we were done in!

Needless to say, our planned ten miler on Friday was cut down to five and we then spent our first weekend of 2012 not running!

Rest is as important as running now. It takes four weeks to recover from a 20 mile run and we've done five in the past eight weeks, racking up a grand total of 550 miles since training began.

We've only got 29 miles to cover this week and I've just got a new pair of Vomeros, so I should have an extra spring in my step this week.

Yes, I know I only got some in Feb, but I've done over 400 miles in them since then, so they've lost their cushioning and have been pounded pretty much into submission!

In less than two weeks, I will be on the start line, ready to race.

Excited is an understatement!!!

Toe-tal Wipeout!

My final long run is in the bag. All 22.5 miles of it! BOOM!

It's come at a price though because the little and next-to-little toe toes on my left foot are mashed, to use the medical term.

Whilst out doing my hot and sweaty nine miler on Wednesday evening, it felt like my left little toe was taking a bit of a pounding. This is not unusual, as both my little toes are really crooked, to the extent that they curl underneath their bigger neighbour and tend to get trodden on quite a lot. This has been compounded by my increasingly more forefoot strike.

Anyway, I didn't think much more of it on Tuesday but found myself hobbling a bit as Wednesday progressed.

Upon inspection, I discovered that my little toe had doubled in size owing to a rather impressive blister. Because it was impeding my walking, I decided to drain it and it had been merrily drying out since and causing me no bother, even during my eight mile pingo run - although I did tape it beforehand as a precaution.

Owing to today's distance, I decided that taping was the order of the day, but it became apparent at 12 miles that all was not well. Either the tape had come off or something else was going on because I couldn't strike with my left foot without very sharp pain.

The was no alternative but to stop briefly, remove my shoe and sock, investigate and resolve the issue and get cracking again.

Long story short - I dispensed with the tape and didn't pay too much notice to the state of play down there!

It was only when I took my sock off after getting out of the post-run ice bath that I discovered that my strapping tape had rubbed on the side of my next smallest toe, resulting in another red raw, angry blister!

Despite all of this, the run itself went ok. It was warm again and the monotony of the Greenway wasn't doing much for my motivation levels, but I knew this was an important milestone in the training schedule.

There's an old quote by famous Kiwi runner, Barry Magee, which states:

"Anyone can run 20 miles. It's the next six that count."

Quite right, Barry. Quite right.

The body can do some extraordinary things beyond the twenty mile marker, so it was important to push past it today and feel the associated pain.

And there was pain. Not specific injury-type pain, just general limb-numbing, dragging your lifeless body along, pain!

However, we did it. And that was the objective. Final long run in the bag and now the taper down to the marathon itself begins.

Rest and recovery are now just as important as running - no additional fitness will be gained by putting in unnecessary miles. The past thirteen weeks have been amazing but it'll be nice to let the legs heal and strengthen, knowing that the hard work has been done, the plan has been followed to the letter and I am ready!

Clearly, Guinness is also a vital tool for recovery, so I'm having one tonight. Or two. No work tomorrow - so maybe a couple more?! Cheers!

I'll leave you with a gratuitously unnecessary shot of my manky toes.

Next series of Embarrassing Bodies?!