Bring me that horizon...

Monday was a day of mixed emotions. I didn't run, as it was a scheduled rest day, and at lunchtime I clambered into the pool and, using floats between my legs to rest my lower limbs, put in 32 lengths. After work I had a good massage and leg stretching session. When I got home I sat in front of the laptop and watched the online coverage of the 117th Boston Marathon. I watched Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa cross the finishing line in 2:10:22, closely followed by Micah Kogo & Gebre Gebremariam, The ladies race was won by Kenyan Rita Jeptoo in 2:26:25 followed by Meseret Hailu & Sharon Cherop. I watched other runners coming across the line for another hour then, as MrsC was due home from her pre-natal exercise classes, I went out to the kitchen to cook tea. Less than half an hour later I received a text message from a friend to ask if I'd seen what was happening at the marathon. Slightly puzzled, I walked back into the living room and discovered the shocking events unravelling thousands of miles away... I was stunned by what I saw. It's difficult to describe the mix of raw emotions that I felt as I watched what should have been a celebration of hum endeavour and achievement turn into a scene of devastation...

The following day, Tuesday, the organisers of the Virgin London Marathon met with Police to review security measures in the aftermath of the bombings and Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe sought to reassure people the London race would be safe, saying that "We are reviewing our plans which is sensible... We will increase searching, we will make sure we've got more officers on the street looking after people, making sure they're safe. We've no reason to think they're any less safe than they were before the terrible events in Boston." Upon registration for Sundays London Marathon runners will be given a black ribbon to wear as a mark of respect for the people of Boston. The race itself will start after a planned 30 second silence and they are also being encouraged to put their hand on their heart as they cross the finishing line. Whatever happens, it's certainly going to be an emotional day for more than a few reasons...

The Bristol - Bath Railway Path (again)

Tuesday, with emotions still a bit raw from the news coming from Boston, and for some strange reason this tune stuck in my head on an internal loop, I put in a 10K run at lunchtime, once again incorporating the Bristol-Bath Railway Path, at an average pace of 6:48/mi (what?) and, after work, a pull-buoy assisted 26 lengths in the pool, as that was all I had time for. When I say that was all I had time for, the reason for this is that it doesn't feel as if I'm spending enough time with MrsC at the moment, so I wanted to get home and make sure that some of the chores were done, and her tea was cooked, so that she wouldn't have to do anything when she got home from work...

A road often travelled & a bridge often traversed...

One of the first training runs I did when I embarked upon my training schedule was with my running buddy, JaykeeBoy, and it seemed somewhat befitting the occasion that we met up on Wednesday lunchtime to put in one final pre-London run together. We chatted about the intricacies of race-day preparation & travel arrangements as the VLM is a large animal of a race & Jaykee knows all about my starting place as he was there himself last year. This year he will be on the elite start and should finish 15 minutes ahead of me. We ran our well trodden route out and around Compton Dando at an average pace of 7:00/mi, completing the 8 mile distance in 56 minutes, which was pretty good going considering the hilly nature of the route and the nasty headwind that seemed to blow against us throughout the run. At the conclusion of the run I expressed my thanks to Jaykee. He was gutted for me when I failed to crack 3 hours in Rome last year and he's been there offering both help & support to me since I embarked upon my London training, going out of his way to run with me and to cajole me along whenever I have found the going tough. To be fair, I could have done the training alone, but he's made it feel so much easier and he will be the first person, after the wife, who I phone after I've finished the race.

And so to Thursday. My last run before the big day. No work, thankfully, as the plan was to have a restful day before following in the footsteps of Dick Whittington and travelling to the big smoke. After waving the wife off to work I simply put in a steady 5 mile... No banging out a pace, just a steady jog and even slower on any uphill sections. Nothing more simple as that. When I finished I walked back into the house and reflected upon the journey that is so nearly at it's completion. It was quite an emotional moment to look back and realise just how far I have come and how far/hard I have pushed my 40+ body to get where I am now. Never have I been fitter and never have I been so mentally prepared for any task set before me.

So there you have it; my London Marathon training is complete, as are my training blogs. There's just on more left for to write, just to let you know how I got on...
At the outset of that journey I had so many plans and aspirations, and within 18 weeks, oh so many things have changed for me and the world in which we live... I've experienced the highs of brilliant runs, the lows of injuries, been battered and blown by some of the worst winter weather since the last ice age, and had more attacks from the gingerbread man than is good for anyones digestive system. No journey through life can follow the path that you set out on, all we can hope is that along the way we can bring love, joy, happiness, and friendship to those we encounter... The last four lines of Rudyard Kiplings 'If..' seem apt here:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

18 week marathon training schedule totals
Run miles: 1031.53
Swim lengths/metres: 1801/45025m
Sit-ups: 11520
Press-ups: 5760
Gingerbread moments: Off the bloody scale...