WE DID IT, WE DID IT, WE DID IT!!!

In case you did not get that, WE DID IT!!!

4 hours 22 and 5 seconds exactly for both of us. Hot weather, leg was ok, most difficult physical thing we have ever done. YES it was an amazing experience but NO we did not enjoy it all - the last 6 miles were physical agony...

We did not walk at all - if we had stopped we would not have got going again... We were walking around like old ladies yesterday and although better today, I still look like I have been run over!!

Full report will be coming out at some point but in the meantime, here are our results and some cracking pictures...

1 day to go!!!

Last night I had a horrible dream that I could not find my race number and that I was late to get to the start etc etc... Just in case I have already laid out all my kit and got EVERYTHING ready to go...

SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!

Keep track of your money...

If you want to check how Grumps and I are getting on tomorrow, you can track us using our ChampionChip... If you google London Marathon and scroll down the options you can find a link through the Telegraph to track us!! All you need to know are our numbers which are: me 45416, Grumps 45415...

So check how safe your money is and how fast we are going!!

The good news is that I ran 2 miles today with barely a twinge so I am now really excited and can't wait to get out there - starting without pain will really help!

There is a reason people jogging do not smile.

I have heard on a number of occasions, people commenting that they never see a jogger smile. Daddy for one is always saying that obvioulsy no one enjoys it because you never see a happy runner.

WELL, there is a reason. This evening, as I was driving over Battersea Bridge, a man was jogging along the pavement and he was actually smiling to himself. In fact, not just smiling, he was laughing at times. And my thoughts? He looked like a total nutcase. If I had been walking I would have crossed the pavement to avoid him.

It is similar to if you are sitting by yourself in a public place, be it a bus stop, airport, bar, etc., and someone comes up and says "Go on smile, it may never happen..." Why would I smile if I am sitting by myself??? Everyone around would think I should be committed if I just sat around grinning inanely at the passing world.

So don't be fooled by the lack of smiles, there are people out there who enjoy jogging!!!

Ultra Endurance Athletes.

Grumps and I have our numbers - yippee!!!

We headed out to the Excel centre last night (on that note,what is with the crazy little DLR toy train thing? Very bizarre invention!) to register for the marathon and pick up our numbers and ChampionChip timers for our laces. Annoyingly, we have discovered that we are in Pen 9 of 9, which means that not only will it probably take us ages to get to the start line, but we will be with all the craziest fancy dress people as well... Never mind, not much we can do about that now!

At the marathon expo we also picked up LOTS of freebies (most random of which was cranberry sauce) and bought lots of useful running things. We each bought a snaztastic number belt which we can load up with our number as well as wine gums and energy gel sachets like an ammo belt.

I was slightly nervous because having read the marathon magazine, on pretty much every other page it mentions this condition called hyper-ponotami-a-somthing-or-other which means drinking too much and which caused the death of a marathoner in 2007. Terrifying! Luckily the lucozade man told me that the chances of that actually happening were very slim. He also kindly gave us a wrist band telling us exactly when to drink / have gel / wine gums etc...

More importantly, he also told us that if you run for over 4 hours you are classed as an ultra endurance athlete!!!! We were very happy to hear this and will now procede to tell everyone we meet. Although, as Grumps pointed out, this seems a little unfair to those who are actually very good runners and do a really good time and as a result come in at under 4 hours...

It was very exciting going to the expo and made it all seem very real. I am definately getting nervous excitement at the prospect of Sunday. Unfortunately I also now have a cold - the Gods are against me for this run obviously...

I thought I would add that in because what with 5 weeks of missed training, a gammy leg and a cold, it is unlikely that I will be anywhere near the target time (Grumps may well be with me but I am still thinking she should run on)... It is important that I point out all these difficulties, then either way I am a winner... If by some freak energy explosion I manage to do it in under 4 1/2 you will all be even more impressed. If however I don't then I can profusley blame the pre-commencement conditions you were all aware of and they won't sound like made up excuses...

Sly plan I know but it's good to be prepared...

(Another cracking motto I heard: Pain is the weakness trying to escape... Loving these mottos; what kind of crazy head case says something like that anyway???)

Tick tock tick tock!

Only a few more days to go until the BIG day is upon us... After months of training it seems bizarre that the day has suddenly come - the last weeks have flown by and suddenly we are nearly there. Grumps and I are off the register tomorrow after work and we are planning on half inching as many freebies as possible to help on the big day!!

We would love lots of you to cheer us along the way on Sunday and hope to see some of you there. Immediately after the run Grumps and I are heading to our charities meeting point but after that we are going to meet in the Kings Arms, Sheperd Market, we hope to be there by about 3.30pm, depending on the leg!!

www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/65/653/

Not sure what state we will be in, or if we will be able to walk, but if we have to crawl there then we will... See you at the bar, mine is a pint of apples please!

We will definately let you all know how we get on afterwards, and thank you SO much again for your super generous donations, it is giving us the motivation to get through the final stages!!

Trot on Grumpy, I'll freewheel on by...

Grumple, Neil and I were staying with Antonia and Nick in Gloucestershire this weekend and on Sunday morning we set out on various activities. Grumpy ran 7 miles and Antonia and I followed on bikes.

As we cruised past Grumpy on our bikes, freewheeling down a hill, I actually felt ENVIOUS of her running!! Of course, if I was able to run and had been with her, I would have been desperate to be on a bike; it is quite amusing to be envious of somebody doing something that I don't even like, purely and simply because someone else has told me that I am not allowed to do it... I seem to have reverted to the mentality of a two year old!

I did a shorter bike ride of 14 miles on Sunday but it means that I did do nearly 50 miles over the weekend so hopefully that will have done something for some part of my fitness!

Grumps is still insisting that we run together. I think we will start together and see how we get on - as we know this is the only time either of us are ever going to do it it seems only fair that if I am struggling, she should jog on and get a good time. Ironically, Grumpy says she does not mind running with me because the time is not important to her, whereas it is VERY important to me (silly competitive nature that I have...). I have a feeling I may be able to change her mind on the BIG day though...

All the gear and no idea...

On Saturday morning I set off with Cal out to the Surrey Hills for a spot of cycling. It was a cold but fresh morning - beautiful cycling weather.

It was a definate case of 'all the gear and no idea' I am afraid. I borrowed Josh's shoes, shorts, leggings, top and waterproof. Cal gave me gloves, a helmet and THE BARRACHI. For those who don't know what a BARRACHI is, it is a super snazzy bike with a light frame and clips on the pedals.

Unfortunately I cannot say I used it to the best of its' ability - I spent the first hour very nervous about the fact that my feet were clipped onto the pedals and despite not forgetting that fact for a second whilst going along, as soon as we stopped I forgot it instantly and almost fell off everytime as I forgot to disengage my feet correctly.

I got the hang of the pedals further in but think that I am just a snail cyclist and although I could keep going up all the hills, my pace was VERY slow and I think Cal got more than a little frustrated! I also rode into a few ditches because the wheels are really skinny. Not sure how that is an explanation for veering into ditches but I'm sure it had something to do with it. Plus my chain hopped off the cog thinggys twice too - I think it's fair to say I am not a natural cyclist!!

BUT - we ended up doing 32 miles with a few hills involved in a bit under 3 hours so a good mornings exercise. Rather annoyingly, my bike's chain was REALLY noisy whenever I free wheeled so every time I wasn't pedalling Cal knew what I was doing. More than once he told me to stop being lazy and get on with it!!

I can't stop eating.

Hmmmm... So the images I had in my mind of me literally shrinking in size to about a size 6 following all this running is not really becoming a reality - more the reverse following my injury... I am eating like a horse - no exaggeration. At a recent meal I ate my food and then cleaned the plates of three others; I never say no to seconds and usually have thirds; and I have also started eating puddings...

BUT - and here is the major problem - I am no longer running 40 or 50 miles per week but I am still eating as though I am. Could I end up being the only person to do the marathon and gain a big tummy in the process???

Marathon training of 5 weeks without running and now with heel lifts and leg baths???

5 weeks without running is pretty much what I will have done... Since the big 18 miler I did nearly four weeks ago, I have only run 3 times and none of those have been more than 7 miles... And now I have been told not to run again before the marathon.

Today I went to see Fred who is the excellent physio that Katy has been seeing throughout her knee ops. He has diagnosed me as having a small tear in my calf muscle where it joins the tendons. He was adamant that I should not run again before the marathon; except for a short jog next Friday. When I do this jog I can appraise the situation and decide if I can run the marathon (the answer to which is already indisputedly a yes, even if Grumps has to carry me or I have to crawl)...

In the meantime I should not do any running at all and no gym work because even the cross trainer has impact on the leg. I have to nurse my leg so that it can heal as much as possible. I have to wear heel lifts (which are really springy, I feel like I am walking on the moon - I am sure the novelty will wear off) and soak my leg in water as hot as I can bear every day at least once a day. This will get the blood flowing which should help the healing.

I am however allowed to cycle, so Cal and I are heading off to Surrey Hills very early on Saturday morning to do some cycling (I am not sure he knows how much of a simpleton I am when attached to a bike). The other plan is to cycle all or at least most of the final part of the marathon very early on Monday or Tuesday so that I am mentally prepared for the route. At least I can be mentally prepared if not physically!!

I am allowed to swim but as my swimming talent is even worse than my cycling talent, I am not sure that this is a good idea - drowning would not be ideal.

Sammy Kemp is adamant about the 'jam in the doughnut' which is increasing the core fitness by doing some sort of exercise called the plank. This is an extremely painful version of a press up which helps to strengthen the stomach muscles (I think...).

So with a mix of cycling and the all important Jam, I am doing everything I can to ensure that none of you get your money back!!! I will complete the darn thing; as Lawrence Armstrong said:

Pain is temporary, quitting is permanent!!!

Hmmm, cycling to Ditton Priors is really steep!

I set out today with the aim of doing a really long cycle ride but stupidly decided that it would be a good idea to go up round the hill via Tugford and Abdon and above Ditton Priors (super steep hill in Shropshire country for those not familiar with it), above Earnstrey. Following that I shot (rather an exaggeration of my steady pace) back down through Ditton and out towards the Water Tower and then on down to Weston. I cut across country to Brockton and then took the main road home.

Total distance 16 miles. Not an amazing effort but a VERY good lung and leg work out - at one stage the hill I was trying to bike up was so steep I almost fell backwards off the bike.

Stopping in too difficult a gear on a ludicrously steep hill was a real error as I found out and the fact that Daddy had a) pumped up the tyres really hard and b) raised the seat so I could hardly touch the ground did not help. I almost toppled right off the bike trying to get to a gear in which I could actually turn the wheels.

Not sure it was one of my finest moments and I was very pleased there were only sheep to watch me. I just don't think I am a natural cyclist...

Cycling is the way forward.

I attempted a short five miler around Wandsworth Common on Wednesday and found that although my leg ached quite a lot, the pain was vastly reduced and with that level of ache I reckon I could definately complete the marathon. So the key is not to make it any worse...

Following some VERY stern words from my co-runner and some sage words of wisdom from my elder cousin (Andy Willco) I decided that perhaps running was not the most sensible option...

And so, out came Katy's bike from the stable and today I set off round our road circuit with the aim of doing 2 or 3 laps (5 1/2 mile laps). It actually went very well and although I am a very slow cyclist who does not even go fast downhill because I am a wimp (110km / hour on skis is no problem, 20km / hour on a bike is terrifying!); I did manage to do 4 laps. The countryside was looking beautiful and there was blazing sunshine and bright blue skies. I also had my imagination and by the end of four laps I was the British duathlon champion and I was entering both the 10km run and a cycling discipline in the 2012 olympics...

I did get a little carried away! But the good news was that my legume did not hurt at all so I can at least keep my self cardio fit...

Running for 2!

So… 20 miles. It actually wasn’t too bad (i.e I survived!) Very sadly my buddy had to stay at home and be a good girl by RESTING her poor leg (a lot of persuasion is being needed and a few lectures from me are going her way because she is not too keen on the resting and keeps trying to sneak in runs- not allowed!)

I instead managed to find a fellow marathon runner to share my plight and for the 1^st 14 miles was joined by mette who kept me on the right paths (how I get anywhere with my sense of direction I really don’t know!) She also plied me with sachets of energy gel- I have been told by many that these are essential and provide a much needed energy boost. I think maybe my expectations were far too high- I was expecting to eat one of these things and find my legs just taking off… not so unfortunately, the legs remained heavy and the experience wasn’t helped by the fact that it’s like swallowing slightly sweet luke warm snot… but I guess I got round!

We ran along the river from Vauxhall to parliament, then along St James’ park, around green park, then hyde park, around the serpentine, Regents park , back to hyde park then back home… it was the most beautiful day and although I must admit a 20 mile run isn’t how I’d necessarily chose to appreciate a beautiful day, I probably would have lain in and certainly would not have seen 5 of London’s parks in all their glory so it added to the smug feeling I had for the rest of the day!

Despite then falling asleep straight after and missing Neil’s rugby match, I did manage to go out and play later- (Until midnight!!!) and amuse myself by baa baa watching!

Anyway, the hard work ‘ain’t over yet- now all energy is going into trying to help Abbs- if anyone has secret magic fingers please call us!! (not that I’m in the least bit worried about piggy backing her round 26 miles of course- never shy away from a challenge!)

Running ban.

Hmmm, any plans for sub 4 1/2 hours may be up the spout for Abbs... My calf injury is proving a bit of a problem and the osteo banned me from running at the weekend. I went back to see him yesterday and it has improved, however I am not allowed to do too much before the big day.

To say that it is frustrating would be a huge understatement, but aside from having a tantrum of epic proportions (which I have considered but dismissed for the time being) there is little I can do.

If the marathon was further away, he would recommend total rest, but it isn't further away, it is just over 2 1/2 weeks! I am allowed to try a short run tomorrow, then try and build up a bit but definately no more than 15 miles and not as much as the training programme and if it hurts I have to stop. The theory being to do what I can before the marathon but not to make it any worse because if I start the marathon with an injury it will be hard to complete it, but if it gets painful mid-way through, I can probably manage to finish. Sounds fun!?!?

One good thing I have found out is that I have a very high pain threshold. He said that he could feel how much he was hurting my leg when he was working it and he decided that I could probably survive torture at the hands of the enemy if I could put up with the pain he was inflicting.

Wow, the marathon experience... You just can't put a value on it!!!

We will get round...

... and Abbs has been practicing the finish!

Ow ow ow...

Training is still suffering as my left leg refuses to play ball. Last night I ran 6 miles and really pushed the pace and did it in 50mins. My leg was hurting a lot but I thought I could run through it. As it turns out, I can't...

Today I lasted just 0.13miles before I had to stop running and turn around. Another trip to the osteo tomorrow and hopefully he will have some more answers. We are supposed to be running 20 miles on Saturday and I really don't want to miss that so fingers crossed again...

But fear not, your money will be safe. I will finish the course whatever happens. And don't forget, we are an excellent team - Grumpy has assured me that no matter what, she will get me round the course!

Less than a month to go...

The final countdown begins... I have been popping onto the London Marathon website on occasion (http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/) to look at the countdown on there; recently I have stopped doing this because I am getting a little scared. When it said 3 months it was fine, but now there is a big fat nought in the months column... Uh oh.

The longest run and then the 'taper'.

This weekend will see Grumple and I running a whopping 20 miles. But the REALLY good news is that after that, we begin the great 'tapering'. This run is the longest distance we reach in our training and so from next Saturday we actually start reducing the number of miles we run at the weekend - marvellous news!

However there are downsides to tapering:

This means that the marathon is only 3 weeks on Sunday!

I also keep conveniently forgetting something of an important point which is that this may be the longest run we have to do during our training but we still have to run the actual marathon... Best not to dwell on that too closely...

only 4 weeks to go!!!

... why is it still so boring and painful and why has it made no impact on my body at all? (apart from now having the joints of a 70 yr old)?? I mean I genuinely thought that I would be walking around in a bikini at every opportunity by now to show off my toned svelte body... If a marathon ain't gonna shift the wobbly bits then I reckon nothing will- bring on the pizza, chips and couch potato in us I say- rock on the 27th!!!

Phew...

...it is not shin splints!!! I saw the osteo on Friday night and it was a big relief when he told me that the ache I felt was the same symptoms as shin splints but was in fact tension build up in the muscles - what a relief!

He gave me a deep tissue massage and sent me on my way. It means that I still need to take it easy for a little bit. On Sunday I was supposed to be running 12 miles so I went over and met Tom Wallace and we headed off round the river. I only managed just over 7 but think that with a bit more rest and an easier week I should be ok again by Saturday - our biggest yet - 20 miles...

The Quiz was a HUGE success...

Thank you so much to all of you who came to our pub quiz last night and to those of you who bought raffle tickets even though you could not make it. You were all hugely generous for a very very deserving cause.

We made a whopping £851.65 last night, so thank you so much. With other donations we have been given by cheque and with the totals on justgiving, including giftaid, we have now raised over £5,000 for the SIA.

We really, really appreciate all your support and the SIA will as well – the amount of money we have raised can do so much good and it is all thanks to our friends and family… Now we just have to run the blooming thing!!

Thank you so much again, you are all total legends. Hopefully see lots of you on 26th April for the ‘big day’.

Quiz results:

Three teams were tied at the end of the quiz: Tishy's Troops, Dream Team and Norfolk in Chance... This meant that there had to be a tie breaker to determine the winner - a member of each team was selected and Jamie Wallace (Tishy's Troops), Tom Wallace (Dream Team) and Harry Mercer (Norfolk in Chance) headed to the front of the room to fight for the ultimate glory...

Quizmaster extraordinaire Ed then listed a number of things which all happened in a certain year and the boys could shout the year as soon as they were confident of getting it right - if they got it wrong, they could not try again...

Harry shouted out 1996 after Ed mentioned Independence Day being released - the whole of 'Norfolk in Chance' wailed 'Nooooo!'. Oh ye of little faith... They were wrong and Harry was correct so the winners of the 2009 SIA pub quiz were Norfolk in Chance!

Extremely generously, the team then re-donated the cash prize of £60 back into our charity pot - very very kind of you guys, thank you!

The Auction

Bids were flying when the auction items were revealed and competition for the Baywatch Babes was hot. In the end the proud purchasers were:

Baywatch babe 1: Tom Wallace
Baywatch babe 2 (including Yasmine): Andy Willcock and Alex Aitchison

Raffle Winners

The raffle was drawn at the end of the quiz and the results are as follows:

A Gucci handbag Harry Mercer
Canapes for 20 by Abigail’s Catering Joe Motley
A timeless selection of hardback coffee table books Dans Jukes
A piece of bespoke jewellery by LEBANNA designs Tom Wallace
A pack of haribo Ali Scott
Half a Duke's Hill ham Bella Timmis
A jumper from Pringle of Scotland Claire Woolf
A one hour personal training session and training programme Emma Dawes
£50 of Prime Angus beef Helena Emerson

All the toys came out of the pram.

I had a serious tantrum last night and behaved rather like a petulant child for a full, long drawn out 30 seconds...

Grumps was running over to discuss the quiz and so I headed out for a quick trot post-work before she arrived. My shin has been aching a bit since our big run on Saturday but I had thought nothing of it - there is usually some part of us that aches at the moment; part of the fun of the whole thing I am told...

So I set out on Tuesday's run (1m jog, 3 x 1.5 mile steady (14 mins) and 400m slow (3 mins), then 1m jog) looking, I think, rather professional. Fozzy has lent me her running lycras so now I have proper gear rather than huge Jack Wills tracksuit bottoms (the first pair ever to do any real exercise other than walking along the King's Road) which Grumps said make me look like a shire horse, charming...

Approximately 100 metres up the road my shin was really starting to hurt so I did a few stretches and carried on, but less than 1/4 mile into the run I had to stop and could not run on. That is not strictly speaking true, I could have physically made myself run on but was worried about a real injury.

This was the point I started having a strop. It is very frustrating when you have gone to the effort of getting changed, stretching and setting out to find that you can't actually do the darn run (I was also secretly looking forward to the run). So I had a serious tantrum to myself and started stamping my feet on my way home. Unfortunately this made my shin hurt more which made me even more cross. At this stage I had the mentality of a two year old and was seriously considering lying on the pavement and beating my arms and legs on the ground. Luckily sense came through and I resisted this temptation and headed home instead.

I am off to the osteo on Friday and no running until then, please can everyone cross their fingers that it is nothing more than a temporary ache...

Sunny Shropshire and beating Neil - what more could I want?

Parted again from my partner (we just can’t go on like this!) I managed to rope the long suffering Neil in to joining me. Seeing as he never runs further than the length of a rugby pitch I was very impressed at his eagerness to join me (what is it about boys being unable to accept that a girl - especially a girlfriend - can do any sort of physical activity that they couldn’t?).

We cunningly stayed with Charlie and Rob on the flatter side of Shropshire and set off in gorgeous sunshine. When we got to the 1st marker of our journey I had to break it to Neil that we hadn’t done the 8 miles he was convinced of but a rather more meager 4.5… We continued on along the most beautiful route until it was clear that we had overshot our next turn off and had to call for directions…

Back on route and after 13 miles Neil left with Rob and Charlie who had come to rescue me with water (having forgotten my bottle I was haunted by the canal I was running along…persuading myself that 1 sip wouldn’t hurt… and anyway, how bad can viles disease be?) Luckily I shunned temptation and waited for the volvic!

The last leg, having stopped for 15 mins at mile 13, was not ideal but I was greeted by a princess in a shining Volvo (Charlie) who stopped me a mile before what I thought was the end to tell me that if I continued I would have done 20 miles. In the car I hopped! Great news. I had done 19 miles in 3 hours with a 15 min break in the middle and I didn’t feel like dying! (Well, that’s before I sat in the car for 40 mins…I felt a little crippled at the end of that!)

And the good news is...

...that there is a marathon in October which anyone can enter and all you have to do is pay £30; no sponsorship involved or anything.

I was told this by a friend (to name no names Clare Foster) who merrily informed me that this event was easy to enter. She actually told me this in all seriousness thinking that I would want to do another. I was quite speechless. At this point Harry was bent double with laughter at the thought of me voluntarily doing another marathon.

I'm not going to fib, there are days when I actually enjoy running - bizarre concept really, but there will NEVER be a day when I enjoy running so much that I want to go through all this palaver again!!

I can safely say that I would rather attempt to pull my own arms off than do another whole marathon just for fun...

A short 18 mile trot to liven up the weekend...

I did chuckle to myself as I set off on my 18 mile run at 7.30am on Saturday morning, having not smoked for weeks and not drunk for 6 days. I would have bet money this time last year that I would never willingly run at 7.30 on a Saturday morning, let alone 18 miles...

Grumps and I both ran 18 miles and actually it really was fine - both had little murmurs in various joints, shins and my hips were very seized towards the end of the run, but nothing that we are not getting used to now. In fact, by the end of the run I realised that I was going to finish in just over 3 hours and 1 minute so I decided this would not do and upped the pace into virtually a headlong sprint. I managed not to break into the minute and made it in 3 hours 18 seconds - much better!

I think both of us are amazed at the fact we can actually run that far without needing a stretcher! The main effect I have found is with my appetite: throughout the weekend I ate like a horse to make up for the big run and at Sunday lunch I ate my main and then finished up three other people's plates as well...

Is this true???

I am not sure what to believe about the marathon these days, please can someone let me know what is true??? Unfortunately I am extremely trusting (or gullible if you prefer) and will believe everything that people are telling me.

The latest little delightful snippet is that apparently we are going to shrink by the end of the marathon.

Yes, that is correct, we are going to get smaller. Apparently the impact on our bones of pounding round 26.2 miles of roads is actually going to make us lose height.

True or false?

I am prepared to be a guinea pig for this so please can someone meet me at both the start and the finish with a tape measure to test this crazy theory...

No more big booze ups...

We have given up drinking until after the marathon... I know that many people say you don't need to give up drinking at all but we want to give ourselves the best chance we have of completing the darn thing.

There may possibly be the odd glass of apples or wine that we drink on special occasions but our days of jaeger bombs (which Grumps drinks ALL the time) are over for 6 weeks.

Oh and I am bored of the Marathon Urban Legend...

If I hear one more story about somebody's "friend's gym instructor's cousin's sister" who did no training, got smashed the night before the marathon and then ran it in 3 1/2 hours I will scream - that has to be an urban legend. And if not, then why are these people not properly training because surely with that much natural talent they could beat EVERYONE!!!

Maybe Grumps and I are being quite strict with ourselves and putting in more than we need to, but why not? Let's face it, we are only going to do this once!!!!

Why doesn't it get easier??

People keep telling us that we won’t want to stop running after the Marathon… who are they kidding?! Clearly we’re not communicating our dislike for this sport clearly enough. I nearly died after running 4 miles in to work last week- I felt worse than I did during 16…it really makes no sense!

We were split up again this week and I was faced with another Scottish climb- I thought the sand dunes in Montrose were bad but the hills and gale force winds around Edinburgh proved a serious challenge! We were supposed to do a ½ marathon- Abbs tore around London in just under 2 hours with our tireless and slightly loco trainer Roro whilst I aimed for a much smaller treck around Edinburgh. I thought 5 miles at a good pace up hills would be OK (I had promised Neil I would take it easy as it was his birthday and he didn’t want me falling asleep at the rugby). I mapped out a route and it came to 7 miles- a good enough distance. Needless to say my sense of direction stayed at home as always and I somehow managed to lose Arthur’s Seat (the Mountain in the middle of Edinburgh that I was running round) and when re-mapped on my return realised that my initial idea of doing 5 miles had in fact turned in to 9… Oh well, much better for me and I managed to stay awake for the rugby! No idea how long it took (Abbs is much better at monitoring the technical stuff!) but at points the wind was so strong that I’m sure I was running on the spot!

Anyway, this week looks tough- 10 miles on Thursday- This schedule must have been written by a student! Also my boss has just said that he won’t sponsor us unless we do it in sub 4 hours- does he not think 26 miles is going to knacker our bodies enough?? Luckily we have incredible support from lots of other wonderful people who understand that not only have we set ourselves a ridiculous enough challenge but the money is not for us but rather a very worthy cause!

Quiz night....

Play the games, win the prizes and let the fun begin...

The SIA pub Quiz, as run by Abbs and Grumps... so much more than a quiz!

Date: 25th March 2009
Time: Quiz starts at 8pm
Quiz Prize: Cash…
Location: The Alma pub, Wandsworth Town
Price: £5!!!

If the thought of firing up your grey matter on a Wednesday evening is too much to handle then there’s also a raffle full of fantastic prizes as well as a short but very sweet auction to be held.

Raffle Prizes include:
A Gucci handbag
Canapes for 20 by Abigail’s Catering
A timeless selection of hardback coffee table books
A piece of bespoke jewellery by LEBANNA designs
Quel que chose from Pringle of Scotland
£50 of Prime Angus beef
And more…


As for the auction…you’ll just have to wait and see!

All that excitement and all for a fiver!

Proceeds are going to the Spinal Injuries Association as part of our fundraising efforts for the marathon, to check out more about our chosen charity please go to www.spinal.co.uk.

Tickets are available now; please let us know if you’re coming so that we can get an idea of numbers. If you pay in advance you will receive 2 complimentary raffle tickets.

Please make payments via internet banking to my bank, you can email me for details at abby@wavescarwash.co.uk.

Thanks and we hope to see lots of you there!!

A half marathon was bad enough...

While Grumple was running around Arthur's seat in the Burgh this weekend, our coach extraordinaire, Roro, ran with me around the slightly less dramatic scenery of Battersea Park. The aim was a half marathon (13.1 miles) in sub-2 hours. And we did it! 1 hour 57 so only just under 2 hours but still, a big acheivement.

At the end the feeling of elation was quickly diminshed when I thought about having to run the same length again on top, 13.1 was bad enough!!

I have also been told that there is a blue line one must follow when doing the marathon and if you don't then you end up running further. I am also worried about the huge numbers of people we are going to be surrounded by; apparently there is the chance of actually being run over by everybody else and trampled! The whole thing sounds frankly terrifying to me and now I am not worried about not making the distance, I am worried about not surviving full stop!!

Week 10 - another fun week...

Training programme this week:

Monday Rest
Tuesday 1m jog then 3 x 1.5m quicker (14 mins) with 3 min slower jog inbetween, 1m jog home
Wednesday 7 miles slow (82 mins)
Thursday 1m jog, 3m steady (30 mins), 1m jog
Friday Rest
Saturday Half-marathon in sub-2 hours
Sunday Rugby and lots of cider - last Sunday session until after the marathon...

How strange that a half marathon seems like an 'easier' run - 13 miles easier? What has happened to me???

Team Effort.

Grumps and I were seperated this weekend and Grumps ran around London whilst I ran on the Isle of Wight. Luckily we have back up team support (thanks guys!) and on Saturday Grumps met up with Roro (Rosie Donaldson; coach extraordinaire) and they went for a 16 mile trot around the streets of London.

I was supported by Jamie (brother-in-law and runner bean) and we pootled around West Wight, 16 miles in about 2hrs 40 mins. There were a LOT of hills but the scenery helped to distract us, it was a stunning route - for those how know the area; we ran onto Headon, almost to the Needles, up and over Tennyson and round the River Yar. Then back along the coast and past Colwell Bay. That was only about 12 miles so then we trotted back up Headon. The route is below:

It was exhausting and the depressing thing was getting to the end and realising that on the day we will have to keep going for another 10 miles...

We are now pinning a lot of hope on the adrenaline rush that everyone keeps talking about for the actual day although we are not sure we are supposed to rely on it for 10 whole miles???

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our cause so far; we are now more than half way to our target which is phenomenally generous of you all. We feel that it is such a worthy cause and the money you have all given really will make a difference to the lives of others...

Hopefully lots of you will be there to see us cross the line and now, thanks to all of you, we really have to do it. No dropping out now - the pressure is on!!

Thank you xxx

A strange revelation.

That is two runs in the space of two days that I have actually enjoyed. Seriously, you have understood correctly; I actually enjoyed running. Simply extraordinary.

Of course it does put it all into perspective when you get to the end of 6 miles and think what a nice distance the run was, only to realise that if that was the marathon we would need to keep going for another 20...

Oh well, it probably won't last but still... Small steps...

Week 9 - following a slight blip in training!

Unfortunately, my training went a little awry this weekend and for the first time in ages I did not run; ALL WEEKEND... So much for my good run with the Wallace pace to keep me going. I am quite disturbed by the fact that I actually felt bad for not running and I felt guilty - a bizarre emotion and one I never thought I would be possible of in a running context! Don't get too excited though, still don't have the "bug" or "addiction" that all runners assure us we will get...

Week 9 of the training programme and the distance is hotting up:

Monday Rest
Tuesday 1m jog, then 10 x 1min (200mtr) fast with 1min (100mtr) slow in between, then 1m jog
Wednesday 6m jog (70 mins slow)
Thursday 8m jog (82 mins steady)
Friday Rest
Saturday Rest or 3m jog slow (35 mins)
Sunday 16m jog/walk (approx. 3 hours)

Anyone want to join in???? The runners are to be seperated again this weekend as I am heading to the IOW and Grumple is in London but we should be back together again soon...

Less than two months to go to the big day...

We are planning on leaving the country.

Training programme - Week 8

We thought you may like to know exactly what our marathon training programme entails, so each week we are going to upload our training programme for that week...

We are now in week 8 of a 16 week training programme and here's what we have had to do / have to do this week:

Monday Rest or 3m jog
Tuesday Jog 1m then 3 x 1m brisk (9 mins) with 400m (3 mins) jog between then 1m jog
Wednesday 7 mile jog slow (80 mins)
Thursday 1m jog then 2m brisk (18 mins) then 1m jog
Friday Rest (yippee!!)
Saturday Race anything between 5m and a half marathon
Sunday Rest (yippee!!)

Sounds like fun does it not???

The runners are seperated this weekend - Grumple is off to the land of the Scots so will be doing a shorter distance because of all the hills... I am hopefully going to run with Jamie Wallace to improve my pace but we have not decided the distance for definate yet!

Soooo Generous!

Thank you SO much to everyone who has already sponsored us, you have all been hugely generous. Having only sent the email out this morning we are nearly 1/6 of the way towards our target and more imporantly have already raised lots of money for a really deserving charity...

It is so kind of all of you and all your donations are really really appreciated. Now all we have to do is run the darn thing!!!

Thank you so much.

A and G x

Sponsorship!

Our justgiving page is live and active! If you have not yet sponsored us then please do - the charity we are running for is excellent. The SIA (Spinal Injuries Association) is the national organisation of the UK's 40,000 spinal cord injured people. SIA provides a helpline, conducts research, campaigns and offers a peer support network, a link Scheme and a website. Promoting self-help through the sharing of experiences and advice, SIA believes that life needn't stop when you're paralysed.

For more information on the Spinal Injuries Association, please visit their website at: http://www.spinal.co.uk/.

Here are some ways in which the money that we raise can help others:

Ø £25 provides help for a caller to our Freephone Advice Line

Ø £50 funds one session with our Family Counseling Officer

Ø £100 pays for a twice-weekly chatroom on our website for one month

Ø £250 supports our website and chatroom for a week

Ø £500 funds a Peer Support Team in a Spinal Cord Injury Centre for two weeks

Ø £1,000 funds the research, production and distribution of six information factsheets

Ø £2,500 funds the Freephone Advice Line for one week.

Please do sponsor us anything that you can; however big or small, your contribution can help others to have an improved quality of life. Please visit our page at: www.justgiving.com/annabelandabby

Thank you.

Totally exhausting...

A few weeks ago, Grumps and I ran 12 miles. Tom Wallace joined us (for fun!!??!!). We ran along the river from Wandsworth, 1 1/2 times around Battersea PArk, over to Clapham Common, round bits of that then back via Wandsworth common and then back to my house.

We managed the run in 2 hours which was impressive work due to my condition. I was ferociously hung over and lacking sleep and Tom and Grumps were excellent at making me jog on...

Then we had a week off. A whole week with no running. TOTAL BLISS!!!

Training re-commemnced on our return from Austria. We both felt like totall lead-legs all week and were dreading Saturday. But sadly, we have no choice! We headed off the Richmond Park on a beautiful crisp morning with blazing blue skies. Our 14 mile run involved two laps of the Park which we completed in 2hrs 15. We were both totally exhausted and felt rather depressed when we finished to realise that for the marathon we have to do the same again as well as the run two weeks earlier - how will we ever do it? We are both hoping that adrenaline will be a major factor...

I hope lots of you will come and watch us... The marathon is on Sunday 26th April and the more the merrier - we will need all the support we can get!!

We both had a deep tissue massage after our run on Saturday which was actually pretty painful... Apparently we are both suffering from a few 'standard' running injuries and both have 'lateral compartment syndrome'. Something to do with a long thin muscle next to our shins which means that we should have massages every few weeks in the run up to the marathon. Is this just a cunning tactic to blind us with science and earn the osteo regular income???

Breaking the ten mile barrier

Training has stepped up a level and last Sunday Grumps and I met up to run 10 miles; our first really long run.

We were both home for the weekend and so Tishbabes drove us to Church Stretton and the plan was to run back. It was a freezing cold morning and we were wrapped up in gloves and scarves. We soon warmed up as we ran - the Stretton road has a ludicrous number of hills which I never noticed in a car... But we managed to keep each other going and ran 10.1 miles in 1 hr 35 mins. Impressive work from a couple of amateurs! We are going to try and do all our long runs together - it works better for us and keeps us pushing ourselves. What we didn't realise as we were running was that we both wanted to stop and walk, however because neither of us actually did stop we just kept going!

Our next long run will be on Saturday and 12 miles - a gradual build up each week. After that we are going skiing - neither of us is sure which we are more excited about: a week skiing or a potential week off training...