Made it!

I can't believe it, I ran the marathon yesterday! 

Thankfully the pain is already starting to fade and I am chuffed to bits to have finished it - 4hrs 22min.

What an incredible day - the hardest thing I have ever done. The support and atmosphere were indescribable. I felt like a film star with someone calling my name every few metres (it was on my top!). First half was great, second half hurt a lot and took a little longer. Seeing friendly faces (David, mum and Mike) at mile 20 gave me the strength to get into my own zone and focus on getting through the last 6 miles....one foot in front of the other, just keep on running was all the kept going round my mind.

Here are my stats if anyone is interested?! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/171029382.

I cannot thank everyone enough for their messages, encouragement, support and sponsorship - I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have such amazing friends and family. And campfour, thank you for all your support, you have been brilliant (and thanks too for my fab training gear, the start of this all!).

Katie - thanks for the sunshine. This was for you.

xxx

The bit I excel at...

...carbo loading!




Bag is packed, train tickets purchased and nerves kind of under control. Support and generosity from friends and family have been totally overwhelming, I am determined to do them all proud. Finally it is here, bring it on! (ps race number is 8085 if anyone wants to track me live on the official website - clever eh?!).

Katie, this is for you. xxx

Geocaching - Getting Started Has Never Been Easier!

Years ago, I used to go 'Letterboxing' on walks in Devon with my family.  This may sound like a strange activity, but it added hours of fun to walks in the moors.  Letterboxing consisted of checking each prominent feature along the walk for a small box or canister.  Inside the box (if you were lucky enough to find one) was a stamp and a log book.  You would stamp your log book with the stamp in the box and stamp the log book in the box with the stamp you would take around with you - or just write in the book that you had found it.

This was a little hit and miss as we didn't know the location of these sites - you just hoped with scouring of each wall or boulder; sometimes there was something, sometimes not.  You soon tuned in to which were the most likely places for something to be hidden.  It could add hours to a walk but was very exciting for us.  I think the longest time we were out on one walk was 9 hours.  We found quite a few to keep us going that day.  Pretty exhausted when we got back though!

'Letterboxing' has been given a technological make-over in the form of Geocaching.  No less exciting, but much more hit and much less miss as you follow a GPS coordinate to the site of a box or canister (known as a cache).  When you reach your destination, you still have the challenge of finding the cache, and the excitement of finding out what is inside.  Etiquette is to leave something if you take something from the box by way of an exchange.  You still sign the log book in the cache and can keep your own log book in paper version, on your GPS or online.

www.opencaching.com is a free website that is set up with a great introduction on how to get you started. You can download GPS coordinates for all of the listed caches on the website - all of which you can look up using an area search.  You can then use this website to log when you found the caches. You can even set up your own geocaches and register them at the opencaching website.

If this sounds like something you and your kids (or even just you!) would like to get into, www.opencaching.com is a great place to start.

Garmin have also produced a great geocaching GPS bundle with everything you need to get started.  The bundle includes an eTrex 10 GPS with basemap, a guide to geocaching and the elements you would need to set up your own cache.

For more information, visit www.opencaching.com or take a closer look at the eTrex 10 bundle from Garmin.

Taper time :-)

I cannot convey what pleasure it gives me to write that I have done my last long run!! 20 miles, 3hr9min and a grin from ear-to-ear. I have had to wait a few days before writing this to allow time for the pain to subside slightly, it was pure torture. I just hope adrenalin is really as powerful as everyone says to get me through the last 6 miles.

I did an interval run today and, finally, I feel the training plan is working... Still really hard but in a good way (!?). And I love my garmin. check out my long run, just because you can (as I am sure it is not interesting to anyone else!). http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164098848

2.5 more weeks only, I am starting to get scared. Happy days though, time to taper is sweeter than any creme egg (and I love a creme egg!). I am going to enjoy the next couple of weeks....

A little inspiration...just what the doctor ordered!

This week Virgin London Marathon organised a talk for all of us Manchester-based runners to help with preparation for the marathon. Blind Dave Heeley gave a talk (7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents, and he is blind - check out his website if you are interested), followed by a Lucozade Sports Nutritionist (yup, you have to eat and drink a lot!!).

This marathon is the hardest thing I have ever done - physically and mentally. It was just what I needed to hear about someone else's incredible successes, get enthused by some running passion and acknowledge that it is not just me struggling! I feel a lot more focused on reaching the start line positively, not just dreading all this training!



Helping this my new toy (Garmin Forerunner 110 with HRM) has arrived. I have one more long run left and, skirting over the time, I am actually looking forward to getting out and trying my new Garmin out. I can now get even more obsessed with stats - bring on pace, distance, time, routes!