Come on Come on!

I run in Greenwich park pretty much every week and so tend to see the same faces regularly - other runners, dog-walkers, and just locals going for a Saturday morning stroll in the park. There's one elderly lady who is there every week, hunched over a trolley as she hand feeds the squirrels and tries to shoo the pigeons away. She shouts out "come on come on!" to encourage the squirrels as she makes her way around the park - and it's become a bit of a mantra which the four of us who run laps there regularly use to spur each other on.

Perhaps the "Come on Come on" lady will unwittingly help me keep going during this Sunday's marathon. When you're running for four hours there's plenty of time for your mind to wander, and anything which  makes you smile, raises your morale or just stops "the voices" telling you to stop can be pretty helpful.

Having spent much of last week working in Aberdeen, eating a little unhealthily and not running, my eight miles around Greenwich at the weekend was more of a struggle than usual - but I've had a couple of good shorter runs since then and, best of all, my long-standing sore knee seems to be finally healing (or maybe the "taper" in my training is having its effect).

Anyway, with only one more training run to go before the race (I'll probably do a couple of miles around Dulwich tomorrow lunchtime)  I'm feeling in pretty good shape, and all things considered I've followed my training plan pretty well. Just need to avoid any last minute ankle twists and make sure I remember all of the bits and pieces of clothing, food and gear I'll need to make it to the start line on Sunday. (Fingers crossed Sophie will be able to join me on the start line as she has been struggling with a calf problem these last couple of weeks).

Quite a few more people have sponsored me in the last week - thank you very much for your support and generosity - I appreciate it very much, especially those of you who I regularly pester for sponsorship.