The Final Countdown...

April is upon us which means its London Marathon month! As I write this there are just 24 days to go until race day...

I  literally cannot believe how quickly time has gone. I can remember sitting writing my training plan into my specially purchased running diary (yes I am that sad!) and thinking the marathon seemed such a long time away. But almost 16 weeks and nearly a quarter of the year has flown by and the final countdown has begun.

My feelings at this landmark are mainly a sense of pride. I am feeling extremely proud of myself for how well I have adapted to marathon training and my commitment to it. To be honest I always knew I would be committed to the running/exercise element of the programme, ask anyone who knows me and they will soon tell you I am a self confessed 'fitness freak' who rarely misses a run, gym session or exercise class. This has been proven through the fact I have not missed a single planned run to date. But the way I have dedicated my time to the training and the things I have given up to ensure I could fit in my runs or to make sure they were most beneficial cannot be ignored. Although I was very fit and a keen runner before starting marathon training the furthest I had ever ran was probably around 14/15km, and I had never trained for anything more than a 10k race. To think my Sunday long run used to be a 10k and now I am out enjoying pounding the streets for hours actually amazes me!

I am also proud of how I have been looking after my body a lot better during training. Yes I have sacrificed a suggested rest day on my training programme in order to keep doing a Body Attack class at the gym - which is definitely NOT rest! And yes I have also been doing Body Pump classes at least twice a week on top of all my running.

But I have been taking the time to stretch, foam roller and have invested in sports massages throughout my training. Plus I have actually had one rest day a week, whereas before marathon training I would easily exercise seven days a week. I have also made changes to my diet, ensuring I eat well and adding things such as flaxseed, chi seeds and turmeric to my food - whether this has had any benefits I don’t know, but I have tried and Holland and Barrett have gained another new customer!

Despite all my achievements over the past months, it scares me how it all could be lost in these next 24 days if I get injured in anyway. Today my left calf has a very tight spot in the middle and my left shin is also sore, I have not come this far to get injured now! So needless to say the Deep Freeze gel and frozen peas are being well utilised. 24 days to go and I am more determined than ever to make it to that start line.