Rachel's Marathon Blog: Just a week to go!

Friday 13 April 2012

Just a week to go!

Hi there,

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter and eaten plenty of chocolate. I certainly did! I think I've earned my Easter Eggs this year though as I've been in the final stretch of my Marathon training efforts.

I'm now feeling a little more confident about the big day as I completed the 16 mile Kingston Breakfast run on the 1st April in a respectable 2hrs 25 minutes. It was a really early start and freezing cold hanging around Kingston at 7am but I had my race support crew (aka James) to cheer me on at the start which really helped. It was a great learning curve for me on what to do and not to do on race day...

1. Dont do your laces up too tight - you end up with massive blisters.
2. Have something you like for breakfast (yukky porridge at 5.45am doesnt go down well).
3. Get there early and dont get stuck in the queue for the portaloo at race start time!
4. Learn to enjoy Lucozade :-S

Although it wasn't quite a marathon I was very proud of myself and, of course, I wore pink.

I've also been on holiday this week with a group of friends down on the South Coast which has been fabulous, but no excuse to stop training. I had a massive 20 mile run planned for Sunday morning in the New Forest. Unfortunately I only managed 16 as I got a bit lost and didn't know where I was going and the weather was awful but at least I gave it a go! I also hardly touched a drop of alcohol, which for any of you who have been on, or heard about Isonda & its resident barman, is a near miracle in itself. Watching everyone else enjoy a glass or two of Rose over lunch when you have do go off and fo a six mile run in the afternoon is torture!

I've also had some extremely kind sponsorship donations over the past couple of weeks. THANKYOU SO MUCH! Every penny donated is another reason to keep running on the 22nd! For anyone who'd like to donate please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelToolan.

Thankyou very much

Rach