Emotional day

Woke up at 7am this morning. It was a gorgeous morning, the sun was out, hardly any wind... Got ready and jumped on the tube about 7.50 to go down to Jess' for breakfast in Surrey keys. There were so many marathon runners on the tube and no surprise I got really emotional. Saw a girl that used to go to my gym and later turned out that she was running for HEART UK as well. She sat together with her friend and I really envied them, sitting there talking about the start, their worries... Opposite me sat a first time runner and a guy that had run a marathon before. Hearing the guy telling the first time runner what to expect... I really wish I was in their shoes and couldn't hold back the tears.
Started talking to a guy on the jubilee line and asked him if it was his first marathon, which it was. Once we started talking two other guys joined in the conversation and they asked about my leg. For a moment I felt like I was one of them, on my way to the start line. I got off the tube with a 'good luck and run for me as well'. I wonder how they did.

Had a really nice breakfast over at Jess' and then head up to Surrey Keys road where my charity HEART UK had their first cheering point. Carol was there and it was really nice to see a familiar face. Quiet a few HEART UK supporters turned up and we were in time to see the elite women, wheelchairs, elite men and the rest of the runners.

The sky literally opened up just before 11.30am and Jess and her flatmate Uma went back to theirs and I started heading up to Tower Hill for the biggest of HEART UK's cheering points. Couldn't find anyone I knew so slowly walked down towards Embankment. Stopped along the way where there was a hole in the crowd and watched the runners go by. Cheered on the girl from they gym, got emotional a few times but it was good to stand there and cheer on the runners.
Walked down to Embankment around 3.30pm and made my way up to Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury. Ran into one of the physio girls that was there at the get together. She told me to email her and she'll give me some tips on how to get back into running after my injury. Ran into Jeanie, one of the girls I've met twice before and spoken to quiet a bit. Was great to see her and hear that she completed it in around the time she was aiming for.
Were quiet a lot of supporters and runners there. Looked around to see if I could find someone else and when I couldn't I rang Jess and said that I was probably going to head home soon. Just felt really misplaced and it just made me sad that I wasn't there to share the joy and soar muscles. Despite the rain and hail today I really do wish I'd been running. I desperately wanted to be one of the runners getting on the tube this morning with a big expo bag, struggling with the tube stairs after the marathon. Instead I've been limping along on the side with my one redlaces running shoe, my running vest and my little HEART UK flag.

It's not really a surprise but unless my doctor strongly advices me against doing NY in November and London in the end of April, I'm going to pay my deposit on Wed and secure my place with Health unlimited.

Getting closer

The countdown on the Flora London Marathon site says 1 month 26 days left. Can’t believe it’s so close!!! I’m starting to feel really nervous, super excited, a little bit scared but also a bit sad. Sad that it’s all going to be over soon. Sure, I feel a bit tired and it’s not always fun to put on the running shoes, but I’m really enjoying it all.
Met up with HEART UK at the Holiday Inn – Blomsbury on Monday. Some of the girls that I met at the training seminar was there and no matter how nerdy it sounds it’s great to be with them, talk about how the training is going, share your concerns and not the least get really excited about the day. I’m really going to miss it all when it’s over. Thinking about joining a running club to keep up my motivation and have other people to share it with.

Other than loving being part of the big buzz my training is going really well too and I love it!!! Can definitely feel that my shape has improved immensely since I started my marathon training in November. This morning I cycled into work, did pretty hard interval training for 30 min plus ran another 30min and I didn’t even feel tired afterwards.
This Saturday I’m having my last drink until after the marathon and it’s time to really get-serious and be good to my poor body that puts up with all the hard work. I’m doing 5 days of training this week and are going to keep it up until tapering time a couple of weeks before the big day. That combined with cycling 40 min back and forth to work 4 days a week, should hopefully improve my stamina even more and get me well prepared on the big day.

Flora London Marathon Golden Bond training seminar

Today I went to the FLM training seminar for all of us guaranteed place runners. It was a really good event and I met my charity, HEART UK, and some of my teammates. Being there and hearing all the advices from amongst others David Bedford, Sam Murphy and Liz Yelling about nutrition, training, how to prepare for it etc, has completely sent my motivation level raising to the sky. They showed a video of what we can expect on the day and I nearly started crying. The feeling and the day itself will be amazing and since HEART UK are one of the two official sponsors of the marathon, we'll be a really big group so look out for the red vest and the red shoelaces :)

In a world that's so full of constant wars and battles it's great to see that the event has such a great support. Obviously we as runners are putting in a lot of effort but everyone who is sponsoring us... wow! The average amount that was raised per runner last year was around £3000 meaning that the average single donation from each person sponsoring is about £40! It's really amazing how generous people are and I'm so thankful for the people that have sponsored me already. I really didn't expect some of you to dig so deep.

I'm so excited at the moment I can hardly sit still. I'm really looking forward to my long run tomorrow and after having met the people from my charity, I've really realised what an amazing job they are doing and what a difference it makes. All that is needed to save lives is creating awareness and I'm so proud of running for them. I'm really going to do all I can to support the charity of the next few months and tomorrow my redlaces, which are a symbol of HEART UK, are going on my shoes.

Perhaps I am...

I’ve done half of it once. My reaction then was ’There is no way, EVER, that I’m doing the double of this. Never!!!’. That was 3 ½ years ago and what I’m talking about is a half marathon and a marathon. Somehow I’ve ended up officially registered, today, in the 2008 Flora London Marathon, running for H·E·A·R·T UK and Teamredlaces. I’ve got 4 months, 28 days, 11 hours and 50 min until I’m standing there, about to cross the start line. How do I feel? Today I’m absolutely thrilled.

I’ve always wanted to complete one but the half marathon in 2004, which to be honest, I didn’t train nearly enough for (longest run before that – 10km) put me off it a bit. I could hardly walk and had to take the elevator up and down when getting around Copenhagen Business School where I studied. Stairs were simply out of the question. The half marathon itself, amazing but bloody hard. In all honesty I’ve been a bit scared by the thought of actually signing up for one. Not to speak about all training devotion it requires. But then, 2 weeks ago, I had one of those moments that I get sometime. Some people call them impulses. For me they are more of a 'all-of-a-suddens-I'm-going-to-do-this-and-nothing-you-can-say-or-do-will-stop-me' (other people call that stubbornness). So in that moment I decided to run the London marathon. Being me I straightaway looked into it only to find out that it was no longer possible to register for your own place in the marathon. The only thing available was signing up through a charity and hope that they would 'give' you one of their places.

Like a little child who’s gotten something into his/her little head and then finds out that they can’t get it, right here, right now, I wanted it even more. My mind was set on that I was going to run the 2008 marathon, in London, nowhere else, and it was going to be amazing! All thoughts of doubt were pushed out of my head and left was stubborn little me, determined to find a way.
As soon as I got home I did some research on the charities and H·E·A·R·T UK was the obvious choice for me (Why? I’ll cover that very soon). I emailed them and got an answer the next day saying that Teamredlaces was nearly full but that I should register on their site. I registered, thinking in the back of my head that perhaps it’s all for the best if I don’t get offered one. After all it was only 5 months and 7 days left and sure, I run a few times a week and have been doing so for the last few years, but I haven’t run longer than 9km since the half mara.

The day after, I got an email saying that I’d been offered a place! I was absolutely thrilled and terrified at the same time. Would I really be able to do it? Would my knees be able to handle all the training? Well, who knows. It doesn’t really matter. I’ve set my mind to it, I’ve got a place, and I’m going to do it. And today I’ve got the payment receipt of the entry fee in my inbox.