£100 per mile

As my final post its great to report that I've hit my £100/mile target for sponsorship.

I've run out of superlatives so just end by saying thank you again for the last time.

It took me till Wednesday after the race to recover fully and I took a well earned rest from running for 2 weeks. I've now ventured out again and in the last few days have done two 5 milers at lunchtime.

My days of running the full marathon distance are behind me, but I have been offered the chance to do the Birmingham and Black Country Half on 5th July.

I have yet to commit, but I probably will :)

Farewell and thank you again. Spain for Euro2008!

Henryk

Proof in Pictures

Just in case you thought I'd sent a "stunt-double" take a look at the following visions of athletism :)

http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_my_photos.cfm?RaceOID=19802008W4&LastName=SWIATEK&BibNumber=34660&Language=en&Mailing=10497&BFI=tg2l9objln&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=8&Height=768&Width=1024&Index2Home=true

... and yes photo 47388568 does bring back painful memories ......

I think this was the point I'd just been passed my Spiderman and a giant cornish pastie.....

4:39

Well its all over. Enjoyed the start and the first 15 miles, even in the rain - may have even been spotted on TV as I ran past the Masai Warriors over Tower Bridge.

As we got to Docklands things got a bit tough and the last 5 miles were a killer. Spent the rest of the day in the bath or in bed recovering.

Vowed never to do another one!

However, echoing Steve Redgrave, today the sun is shining and surprisingly I can still walk so you never know ..... :)

Thanks for all your support. I'll be taking the week off to recover and will post some further reflections and piccies next week.

85 days in summary

Most of you know I have a degree in maths and so, accepting the risk I may be called "statto", having done my final run today he is the last 3 months in numbers:

Number of days trained: 85
Miles run: 388
Hours trained: 62.8
No of trainers used: 2
Furthest run: 21.2 miles (3hrs 32mins)
No of tracks on mp3: 56

And some other observations:

Favourite run: Richmond Park -- it can be quite tough getting up early especially if its cold and damp but the 7.25m cycle track is lovelly when the sun comes up and hits you on the back
Top ten hints:
1) Get a plan -- I used a mixture of runnersworld.co.uk and marathon news but there are loads of plans on the web -- I've attached my actual training schedule below.
2) Get organised -- You will never keep to a schedule unless you plan your life around when you can run and vice versa - never feel that because the schedule says x miles then you have to do it and forfeit a life!
3) Get decent trainers -- its worth the investment
4) Use vaseline - otherwise morning run like Haille Gebressallasse afternoon walk like John Wayne
5) Listen to your body -- if you are really feeling tired and worn out then consider resting -- resting is an important part of your training schedule (as is sleep!)
6) Try different routes --- www.mapmyrun.com great site that allows you to accurately measure routes
7) Use a gym -- In those dark days of January this was a godsend. I have realised that I'm not really very good at "dark,cold and wet", the treadmill allows you to do speed work and interval training and allows you to catch up on episodes of your fav tv shows or footie at the same time!
8) Blister proof socks --- Yes they really do exist!
9) Drugs --- Lucazade Carbo Gel is my choice, but other products such as Go-Gel exist -- experiment to see which ones work for you on your long training runs but don't over do it (max 1 per hour)
10) Race -- use races as part of your preparation to get used to running in crowds and practising in your race gear.

Expo

Going up to the eXcel arena today to register and get all the stuff. You have to do it in person and they advise that if you can do it mid-week as it gets really crowded.

Typical -- I've been laid up with a bad cold and sore throat the last couple of days, I've been shovelling down Lemsip, paracetomol, nurofen, you name it ...... if the race had been today I'd have been in trouble as my muscles are weak and achy.

No runs since Tuesday morning - perhaps I could manage a gentle 20 minutes later in the gym..

And so the end is near ... and so I face my final curtain ...

For the record I personally think the Sid Vicous version knocks spots off Frank but anyway ....

Thanks to Ant for keeping me company round Richmond Park at the weekend. A gentle 74 minunte jog - fortunately we didn't decide on Sunday morning as we would have had to brave more snow --- what is it with this weather anyway ?

Am now on 2 weeks leave. Kids are off school so we visited Sarah in Stratford and my mum at the start of this week. My Childline vest came today and I shall be giving it a test run tomorrow morning.

After that I have at most 2 more runs to go. Thanks to all of you who have been sending me good luck messages this week.

Its been a long long road and I shall look back on it with mixed emotions -- the early morning sessions are one thing I will not miss, but on the other hand after you come back having done one of those lond runs on staurday morning in the cold you do feel a bit of a buzz and a sense of acheivement.

Next post I shall give you the final training schedule as run... for those of you wanting to get in to next years marathon they are opening the on-line entry at midday on race day.... I think I sahll be somewhere in the East end at that time !

Countdown progressing .... T minus 9

Getting a bit nervous now ...... or is it just excited ......

I've pretty much done what I can now. This week I will finish with the Richmond Park circuit and that will bring my total mileage to date for this penultimate week to 26 miles and 375 miles in total.

I've laid off the fundraising for a while -- with the post-race pledges I will get up to just short of £2,500 which is much better than I had ever hoped for ---- once again thank you for the fantastic response.

As promised I've decided to post the contents of my mp3 player to give you a taste of the music that has kept me going for these past months (a few items are simply too cheesy to own up to !)

Led Zeppellin – Communication Breakdown
Foreigner – Fool for your Lovin
Blondie – Atomic
The Farm – Groovy Train
The Farm – Altogether Now
Coldplay – Clocks
Van Halen – Best of both worlds
The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
Run DMC – Walk this way
The Jacksons – Shake your body
George Michael – Freedom
Deborah Harry – I want that man
Powerstation – Get it on
Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas
Elvis Presley – Rubberneckin
Elvis Presley – A little less conversation
The Darkness – I believe in a thing called love
The Darkness – Growing on me
Ted Nugent (!)– Cat scratch fever
Catatonia – Road Rage
U2 – Vertigo
U2 – City of bright lights
Cult – She sells sanctuary
Guns N’Roses – Sweet child of mine
Gary Numan – Cars(Premier mix)
Tom Jones (!!) – Help yourself J
The Clash – Should I stay or should I go
S Express – Theme from S Express
U2 – Beautiful Day
ACDC – You shook me all night long
ACDC – Back in Black
Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Chile
The Chi-Lites – If everyone looked the same
C&C Music Factory – Things that make you go hmmmmm
Deee-Lite – Groove is in the heart
Fat Boy Slim – Right Here
Chesney Hawkes (!!!) – One and only (how did this get here !!! J)
Baby Bird – You’re gorgeous
Zoe – Sunshine on a rainy day
Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion
Blondie – Maria
Scissor Sisters – I don’t feel like dancin’
Bauhaus – Ziggy Stardust (much better than Bowie version !)
Pearl Jam – Loaded
**** delete to prevent further ridicule and embarrassment *******
**** delete to prevent further ridicule and embarrassment *******
Michael Jackson – I want you back
Sugababes – Ugly (blame this on my 10 year old daughter ! J)
The Killers – Smile like you mean it
The Killers – Mr Brightside
The Killers – Somebody told me
The Killers – All these things that I have done
The Knack – My Sharona
The Who – Pin ball wizard