Eighteen sodding miles...

A little over an hour ago I stumbled home from my 18 miler.

This was originally scheduled for yesterday, but snow etc made me postpone.

The last mile was a bit of a blur, as I was really feeling it by then. I even started screaming at myself to keep going. It was probably meant to sound like "come on", but came out more like "mnnneeer"!

I apologise to the good people of Chertsey who had to see that. I assure you, I'm not a mentalist. At least not that kind.

I do, however, think I'm an absolute idiot for doing this - who in their right mind would do this for fun?!

It was horrible. I ache. There's bits of skin hanging off my foot (sorry, no pics). All for "charity".

Got to do it all again next Sunday, then get to taper down before the big day.

Off out shopping now, which I imagine will be interesting as I hobble slowly behind. At least I get to spend some time with my good lady who very kindly made me egg and bacon muffins when I got in!


+++++++++++UPDATE+++++++++++++++++

We went to Guildford, which is only 15 miles from my house!

I could have run it and met her there!

Admittedly, I would have stank and been unable to talk, but would have been quicker. Not sure other shoppers would have appreciated it, but I could have struck up a few conversations to try to get more sponsorship!

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Good news is the eight miler last night went pretty well. Managed it non stop, and even had some juice left for the last couple of miles to get the pace moving up! Weird...

Bad news, I ache like mad (no surprise there then!) despite stretching for what seemed like an eternity.

Ugly - the red sore blister on the arch of my right foot! It's a beaut, but pretty painful.

I'm doing all the things you do to try to get blisters sorted, but I'm not sure the other half's idea of a trip to Bluewater is the best idea.

Still, we do these things for the people in our lives and it gets me out of the house so I shall try to "enjoy" myself!

Got the pleasant five-miler tomorrow, before the somewhat daunting prospect of 18 miles on Sunday. Add to this, the chances of "heavy snow" (according to the BBC Weather site yesterday) and Sunday should be one of the lease pleasant days of my life! So thats something to look forward to!

Messages of support, mockery and general banter are, as always, welcomed!

Oh bugger...

It turns out that four days out of the country drinking copiously does have some impact on running performance.

Who'd have thought it?!

Last night's six-miler was more arduous than I expected. My time was well down and I struggled a bit when normally it's pretty straightforward.

Also had another run-in with the odd rowing club people, but thankfully I was already on my way back and didn't have to put up with it for long.

I am starting to get a bit worried though.

Less than a month to go, and I'm struggling for six miles! Need to do another 20.2 after that!

Also, I have undeniable evidence that the claims that my six quid a pair socks'

"unique mixture of fibres helps to keep the foot cool, dry and blister free."

is a lie. Got another sodding blister last night. Think I'm gonna have to do some serious work on my feet to get them in a decent condition for getting round this thing.

I'm hoping my performance dip is just down to a bit of weight gain from the weekends activities slowing me down (I too was shocked that a diet comprising solely of beer, meat and bread can do that!). That should soon disappear if I keep going out and will hopefully get me back on track!

Might do another light one tonight - two or three miles - just to try to get back into it a bit, and try to get my head back in the right place for finishing this puppy.

Roll on April 14th...

Surprise, surprise...

Not a lot of running was done in Barcelona/Catalonia.

The will was there, but the physical ability to move my legs was sadly lacking. This wasn't helped by the ridiculous trek up a mountain that was still covered in snow. And then trekking back down.

In the dark.

With no lights.

Or taxi's.

I'm optimistic my legs will be working properly again soon - got a nice easy 5-miler tonight (can't believe I can write things like that!).

Hopefully that will be a nice build up to the 18-miler at the weekend that I'm absolutely terrified of!

Barcelona!!! It was the first time that we met...

Off on a stag do this weekend, so prob gonna miss my sat run, though will try to do my Sun one when I get back (state of head dependent!).

I'm contemplating taking my running gear anyway, as I have a habit of waking up hours before others, so might be able to clock a few extra miles. The jury is still out on that one though...

Been plodding along nicely, though still got occasional niggles in my leg which I'm keeping an eye on.

Sent a message to member of my facebook group to remind them where their wallets are:

Friends, romans, random internet people...

Tomorrow marks the one month countdown to my 26.2 mile hellish experience, and, quite frankly, I'm a little disappointed in you...

Some of you have been good enough to dig into your wallets/purses/bum bags/orifices to make a generous donation at www.justgiving.com/philrun

slondon. For this, you have my thanks, and the promise of eternals salvation for your otherwise tainted soul.

The rest of you, however, shall be cast headfirst into a pit of horrible things like the contents of the multiple blisters I have suffered, or piles of toenails, prematurely ripped from their podiatric home.

You can save yourself by visiting www.justgiving.com/philrunslondon and absolving yourself of these, and all past, present and future sins, by donating whatever you can afford.

Obviously, if you donate more than other people, that makes you a better person than them, so feel free to try to outbid others!

So, visit www.justgiving.com/philrunslondon, donate loads, and be a better person than everyone else you know!

Peace and love,

Phil

Reckon they got the idea where to donate?

Got another £30 from that so far - it all helps!

Publicity

As part of my "month to go donation drive" (or at least thats what I call it in my head), I agreed, against all my natural instincts, to do a piece in the local paper.

Now the journo is a lovely chap - he's running the marathon himself - but a bit of warning on the pic would have been appreciated!

You'd expect me in my running gear, or with some kind of athletic prop, but no, only 2 hours notice when I was at work, so there'll just be a pic of some bloke with ahis coat on looking a complete tit!

The things I do for charity...

Another attack

There's something odd going on this winter...

Laura's had her third attack of the winter, and the nebuliser didn't touch it so it was off to A&E to get her properly sorted.

All fine now, but it's still horrible to see her like that, and I always find myself saying a silent prayer that it's not going to get worse. Incredibly hypocritical of me, I know, but in scary times you try anything.

Another timely reminder why I'm doing this, and a kick up the arse for me to get more donations!