WEEK FITHTEEN DONE - Taper is not good for your health

Just one week to go, this time next week it will all be done, doesn’t really seem real. Surely I need to run more first, I’m not nervous yet but I am sure it will come. I think I will post daily this week, well at least till I go to London on Friday.

Day 98 Monday 12th April 2010 – Back to work

Wake up not wanting to go to work but talk myself round and go in a positive frame of mind pinching the addidas phrase as my mantra for the day “Impossible is Nothing” I have meetings in the morning and so I don’t get to even open my emails till late afternoon! I have a busy day but as I don’t actually get to the bottom of my inbox I am blissfully unaware of what I need to do and so finish the day as relaxed as I started it! Don’t manage to go for a swim at lunchtime but go after work, have missed my swimming in last few weeks. Bump in to Dave as I leave the gym who has had an excellent run today and chat for a while about Marathon things. Dave more than once tells me to not stand out in the cold and wrap up warm, but as I’m talking about my favourite thing Marathon running (ok ok my second favourite thing) I shrug his concern off and say I’ll be ok!

Day 99 Tuesday 13th April 2010 Injury & Illness

Injury - When I am getting my breakfast I open the fridge door and the milk shelve complete with a full four pint carton of milk fall out hitting me on the ankle bone. I drop to the floor in agony as if I have just been rugby tackled I screamed out so loud that I woke and got Daniel out of bed to see what was up, and anyone with teenage boys will know how hard this can be! Ankle is red slightly swollen and feels bruised!

Illness - Should have listened to Dave! At lunchtime I started with a strange pain at the back of my mouth/ tongue which within half an hour had turned in to a sore throat, my throat felt swollen, kind of numb like when you have an injection at the dentist but hurt at the same time and I couldn’t talk properly! I really really really want to run tonight I have planned my route out and have been looking forward to it! But I begin to feel a little achy and feverish, go to the gym but when I get there even drinking water is ridiculously painful and my head takes over from my heart and I decide not to run. Get home and have a missed call from Trevor so text and ask him if he could bring me soup lemsip and ice cream for my tea but he calls with some excuse about been in London, so try and suck on grapes for my tea!

Am worried! 15 weeks of training and I get ill now!!!

Spend the evening working out the UKA database and re registering the club and members, think I have it sorted now!

Day 100 Wednesday 14th April 2010 – What happened to Wednesday?

Actually had a good night sleep got up, throat still sore though! But really don’t remember much more about my day!

Day 101 Thursday 15th April 2010 – Aren’t massages suppose to be relaxing?

My throat is feeling much better today though I feel a bit snotty! My work phone rings not long after 8 and I have to laugh as I am still in the bath! Another busy - ish day at work tackle some of the things I have been avoiding which feels good! Make time to go to the gym at lunchtime to do an easy (if there is such a thing) interval session on the tread! My chest feels tight and I am wheezing a little, so know something is not right! Wonder if should go see GP, but what can they do?

After work I have a sports massage, have been looking forward to the pain all day. I just finish saying to Harriet that I think either she has developed a gentler touch or that my body is getting used to it when she turns her attention to my troublesome hip! I am left with a bruise from this attention. Then I silly say that I have had a touch of pain under my foot which keeps re occurring, it never occurred to me that you could give a sports massage to the sole /arch of your foot. Well guess what apparently you can and boy does it hurt!!! Last time I felt pain like that was when the dentist gave me an injection and accidentally hit a nerve.

Day 102 Friday 16th April 2010 – Dull Friday

I want to do spin class – but my body is still demanding rest - dull

As always spend most of Friday in a never ending meeting – very dull

Get home to an empty house – very very dull

Hope to see Trevor after work, but he is working late – very very very dull

Put TV on very very very very dull

Ignore the fact that Trevor has work to finish and go see him anyway, have to brighten my day somehow!

Day 103 Saturday 17th April 2010 – Relaxing Saturday

Get up for Park Run, think I might chase a PB today seen as how I haven’t worked hard this week so make sure I get there in time for a warm up. Set off feeling good, Garmin not charged properly though so this soon goes off and I don’t know my pace. Now I felt strong and ran well I got a little wheezy on last lap and I think I backed off a little but I think this is because my goal is VLM and not wearing myself out for a PR pb. I finished in 29.31 (fastest during my Marathon campaign?) this is 34 seconds slower than my PB. Russell who did Paris last week got a PB today because he has been recovering this week and only done about 30 miles!

Get home to discover that poor Misty the cat has had diarrhoea in the house!

I can’t seem to get energy to do any chores this afternoon, I look around at all the things I need to do, the sun shine seems to be showing all the previously hidden dusty corners, the garden is in desperate need of some TLC, my hall and stairway need preparing for decorating, junk needs taking to the tip but as Marathon Talk says you shouldn’t tackle a new project or do any physical work during taper, wrap yourself in cotton wool! Well I don’t need telling twice and decide to try sneaking an hour sleep on the bed. But alas the Kids arrive home and my peace and tranquillity are shattered. We go to Goodalls farm at Tong for one of their delicious ice creams and then back home where before I know it there is a (what is the collective noun for a group of noisy kids) lot of kids running around seems to be some kind of girl V boy game going on!

Nandos for tea, kids are on form and have me laughing so loudly, we are talking text talk what does “SUD!!!!” mean asks Daniel, we look at him stumped. SHUT-UP-DEL !!!!! Then home and we have a rare evening all cuddled up on the sofa and watch Run Fat Boy Run.

A lovely relaxing day

Day 103 Sunday 18th April 2010 – Last Long Slow Run

It’s 8.36am and the sun is shining and I should have set off on my last (short) Long Slow Run already but I’m here updating my blog notes. But time to get going lots and lots to do today!

I’m back; the run went well, was a lovely running day sunny but not too warm. Decided to run solo today wanted to mentally prepare myself. Took myself up Tong Road and across Back Lane through Gildersome and to Morley before enjoying a downhill run on Churwell Hill! The last half a mile did feel hard and it did seem impossible to think that I will have to run another 16miles further next Sunday. But I think its psychological, 10miles was on my plan and that is all my body was expecting so anything more felt too hard, next week my body is expecting 26.2 miles so should be ok, well that’s the theory anyway.


Now I have a favour to ask you all. Your support throughout the last 15 weeks has been fantastic and invaluable and I’d like to take that with me on the day. So I need your words, a single one or a short Mantra to keep me going, post them here as a comment, facebook them, text them, and I will write them on a band I will wear on my arm (hence why short) so that I can carry your words with me for when I need them!