Blog Thirty Seven

So its the night before the marathon. Marathon essentials number 1 - my nails match my racing bib - huge thanks to Isabel for doing them as my co-ordination wasnt yet back to be able to. Apart from that I realise from reading all the advice that I have done nothing Im supposed to:

My Route is planned but I have never run it before

I have one small pack of energy chews but have never trained with them apparently this is not a good idea

I dont have a water or belt to carry anything in

I have only a pair of shorts and a vest top to run in

I do however have some wondeful friends who wil keep me company and safe and the amazing staff at the Royal Free Charity who have also planned to meet me at every site. Im running around the Trust sites - Barnet to Chase Farm to Finchley Memorial to The Royal Free.

My route is longer than 26.2 as I have such GPS issues and conflicts that Im worried that I wont make the distance or that the apps will fail. So Im running with two Apple watches - one to watch my heart rate and run the mapping app, the other to run the Apple activities app. I have three battery packs for my phone so I can run MapmyRun, Strava and the London Marathon App without my phone going flat.

I have also managed to aquire some vaseline to stop blisters (my biggest fear!), I have hair glitter - because this is so important - which matches my top. My nails are also purple to match my top. So all the things I have prepped are not the important ones! I am now incredibly nervous. Deep down I know I can complete it, I have worked through many hard times in sport and overcome big injuries, but I still question whether I have trained enough, run far enough, run fast enough and a hundred other things. I just have to trust that inside I kow I can and that will be enough.

So tomorrow I run the London marathon. Called virtual, but I will be moving for 26.2 miles. I can’t promise I’ll run all that way due to a stay in hospital this week and I wasn’t able to get a cortisone injection into my ankle in time, but I will finish. I am terrified and I don’t expect a fast time - I would be happy with 6 hours tbh.

Thanks so much to my support team on the day and from the Royal Free Charity and to everyone who has been so encouraging over what has been not the easiest of times. I just hope I make you all proud.

You can track me by downloading the app and entering my bib number apparently.