A slight weakness of this (otherwise fine) website is that it doesn't enable me to send donors a thank you message when they make a donation. So I'm posting this as a general thank you to everyone who has donated, and I hope you see this message. It makes all the difference: I suppose I had better run the race now. Incidentally, there is an anonymous donor on the list of donors: I would love to know who it was! Aiming for a conservative 10 minute mile up to 20 miles, and then see what I have left for the remaining 6 miles. Only slight fly in the ointment is the apparently evil hill at mile 24. But once that is done, its downhill to the finish. There is a system where various split times are posted on my Facebook page. If you are REALLY bored on Sunday morning (and early afternoon!) you should be able to track my suffering!

In to the last week or so, and tapering away. Insanity rules: paranoia that I haven't trained enough, weird running related nightmares, and general restlessness all round. When I have run, though, I've felt pretty good: freshness returning, and feeling pretty sharp. So much so that I've already signed up for my next marathon after Chester: Manchester in April. But for now, it is more important that I rest than run - runs now are really to keep my legs from tightening up. Really looking forward to Chester: weather looks good (cool, slight chance of light rain, no wind to note) - keep it like that.

A long break in the journal, I'm afraid, reflecting an injury lay-off. A calf strain, to be specific, resulting in no running for about 4 weeks, and a gentle resumption after that. Paranoia definitely set in: I felt desperately under-trained, and approaching the race with a growing sense of dread. So, rocked up to the English Half Marathon, in Warrington on the 8th September. Four weeks before the full marathon: perfect timing for a 'tune-up' race. My last half had been over a year ago, in the run up to my first marathon. That day (on a fast course, but on a hot day) I had got a PB, but missed breaking the 2 hour barrier by 36 seconds: definitely mixed feelings. This time round, I was pretty short on confidence, but realised that if I was to have any chance of getting under 2 hours, I had to start with that intention, and hope I could hold out. So started off at the correct pace (9 minutes per mile or so), and waited for the engine to blow up. And waited.... and waited... Last mile came along, and still felt OK (well, maybe getting a bit tired), and lo and behold, finish time of 1 hour 58 minutes and 2 seconds. Confidence restored!! Lesson learned: stick to a realistic plan, and learn to pace your race correctly! Since then, I've completed my final long run (20 miles), and begun the three week taper. Time to target the sponsors!

All going well training-wise. Ran the "Longest parkrun" on the 23rd June: 7 5K parkruns around Manchester on the nearest Sunday to Midsummer's Day: a great event, getting to meet fellow parkrunners from the region. Pretty tired at the end of the day: not sure if 21 miles was called for this early in the training programme, but a confidence booster nonetheless. Since then, been sticking to the training plan: miles are increasing, with the longest weekly run up to 10 miles now. But its (finally) hitting summer temperatures, so 10 miles can be pretty tiring. I suppose that is the 'benefit' of training for an autumn marathon: you train through the hottest part of the year, and hope that come October, it will have cooled down. As opposed to when I train for and ran my last marathon in Brighton (April 2012): training brought the joys of snow and horizontal sleet at times, but the day itself was lovely. Just have to properly re-hydrate, I suppose (not my strongest suit!). Right - just have to lose this tweaked calf muscle, and get back out running.

17 weeks away from the Chester marathon, and that means a week away from the start of the training plan. I really can't wait: running has become such an important part of my life over the past two and a half years, but I feel a bit 'all at sea' when I don't have a target to focus on. So it will be four runs a week from Monday 17th June, increasing in length and intensity. It is a real honour to run in Simon's memory: his death was obviously a real shock to all, even those of us who hadn't seen him for about 35 years! His memory will keep me going on those long training runs.