It has been such a hectic working week starting with a 2 day trip to an exhibition at the NEC, back home briefly overnight and then an early morning 5:15am alarm and a day in the office in London.

Whilst staying at the Novotel at Birmingham Airport I was over the moon when I saw they had a gym but my hopes were dashed when I actually saw the facilities.  One bike which unfortunately was in use, no treadmill or Concept 2 and only some weights and a recumbent bike to use.  So reluctantly I jumped on and stupidly I did not set the seat right and had to stop after 15 minutes due to an over stretch of my IT band on the side of my leg.  I managed to swap to a normal bike and knock out 10 miles but the niggle in my leg lasted for a couple of days but thankfully no permanent pain or damage during my next 5k run on Thursday.

I have learnt my lesson, at this late stage in my marathon training with only 4 weeks to go I cannot risk trying out anything new – take it steady Sharon I keep telling myself.  There is nothing to prove now just focus on the longer endurance runs perfecting pace, hydration and nutrition.

For Graeme it has not been a good week.  After finding a nasty Tick on his abdomen and being put on a course of preventative antibiotics by his Doctor he was advised not to do a long 20 mile run at the weekend.  So therefore we decided that he would ride his mountain bike and I would embark on what would be my longest run ever in 15 years since I started.

I must admit I was actually a little apprehensive about how this would work as we set off on the Eastington, Frampton, Whitminster loop again. This time we decided to add in an extra mile on the canal at Frampton and extra mileage at the end at Stroud.  Actually it worked quite well, I think it was because I was no longer playing “Catch the pigeon” with a runner who has always been leaps and bounds ahead of me!

Once again, I broke the distance down into 10K’s treating myself to food and drink at each 10K point.  I find this is excellent strategy and mentally it means that I never feel overwhelmed by the whole distance I am simply breaking it down into manageable chunks.  On the day of the marathon,  I think I will need to drink every 4 miles to ensure I have no dehydration issues.  I will take my High 5 with me to ensure I am replacing lost electrolytes & also get an extra energy boost but plan to take on-board water at the water stations.

I still think I am probably doing the first 10K too fast so hope I can find a pacer at Edinburgh to pull me back and stop me doing this.  I am reliably told they should be there helping runners around the course. On Saturday I noticed my pace drop at around 18 miles, a price you pay for getting the pace wrong!

At 19 miles, I had a brief spell of stomach discomfort which I think was down to not being properly hydrated again but I kicked on to reach my goal YAY …20 miles in the bag.  Just one silly error my last 0.30 of a mile finished half way up the steep Callowell Track – silly, silly Sharon.

Legs felt fine but as soon as I got home my calves were killing but as soon as I got into my Epsom salts bath they gradually recovered.  In summary, after the longest run ever I am feeling very good and happy this target has been reached and is out of the way.   I keep on saying this but I think I will buy some calf guards to try.

I am extremely nervous but I think I need to try one more long run before my taper!  Not long now … Eek!