With just three weeks to go the London Marathon is almost here and I can’t wait. Training has gone as well as I could have hoped and since the last training entry I’ve completed two more half marathons improving my personal best each time. The races have been at Silverstone on the race course (1:15:23) and Paddock Wood in Kent (1:14:42) and both have been superb in my preparation. The biggest thing has been racing against other wheelchair athletes and seeing what they do and how they prepare before a race. I’ve also managed a 22 mile training push in 2 hours eight minutes which isn’t too far off my race pace.

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I thought I would take this opportunity to share a couple of articles that have appeared online about me over the past couple of months. Since I did the open water swims last year I’ve had some good coverage which has been great as it helps to raise the profile of Aspire, who I swam for, and can help get a few extra pounds in towards my fundraising targets.

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The big smoke is undoubtedly a great place to live but sometimes I have to be honest it gets on my wick. Today without doubt was one of those days. I woke slightly excited as I was heading up to the Emirates Stadium, the new home of Arsenal FC, for a work event. If you are a wheelchair user the best way to get to the Emirates is on the over ground via the newly extended East London line to Highbury and Islington and then it is about a ten minute push to the ground. This would have been ok had it not been pouring with rain.

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Sponsor me and I’ll do another marathon a much harder marathon

Ok before I start this blog I want to put it out there that I HATE musicals. I mean I really really HATE them. For anyone who doesn’t know in April I will be taking part in the London Marathon and I’m hoping to raise £450 for the spinal injuries charity Aspire. As I hammered pretty much everyone I know for sponsorship last year when I did the 2k outdoor swim I know trying to raise funds again this year is going to be hard. In-fact I think it might be just as hard trying to raise the money as doing the 26 miles itself.

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I’ve just realised it has been over a year since I started this blog. In that time I’ve written about a number of things from a trip to Rome to me taking part in an open water swim. As a result I thought I should make my next entry an absolute belter, a real eye opening, insightful blog, tinged with a blend of humour and wry observation. Yes this entry calls for a weighty issue to justify being chosen as the topic to celebrate a year of blogging. So after much deliberation and consternation I’ve decided to blog about a toilet.

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Today I got one push nearer to the London Marathon after completing the Race Your Pace half marathon in 1hour 15 minutes and 44 seconds and achieved the qualifying time needed. I’m not getting too carried away though until I’ve actually had my place confirmed by London. That being said I have just celebrated with a curry and a bag of Haribo, which is a slight deviation from the post-race nutritional guidance I’ve read about in the training guides I’ve printed off.  

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With just four days to my first half marathon in the new racing chair I thought now would be a good time for my latest training update. Since my last blog a lot has happened and I feel in great spirits. This is despite some horrendous looking blood blisters on my fingers (see above) and a knackered neck and shoulder which has required some physio. On the plus side I’ve had my first session in the rain, I’ve been to the wonderful Preston arena http://www.uclan.ac.uk/uclansport/arena/about.php, I’ve completed my longest distance of 16 miles, signed up for another half marathon in March, found a local wheelchair racing club and been for a training session at Dorney Lake in Eton, which is where Sunday’s race will take place.

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Another week of training and all is going well. Today I completed 12.5 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes which by my new calculations isn’t too far from the qualifying time needed for the London Marathon. I did have it in my head that I needed to finish a half marathon in 1 hour 15 minutes which at this moment in time feels like a big ask. However, I’ve been back on the London Marathon website, http://www.virginlondonmarathon.com/marathon-centre/enter-virgin-london-marathon/virgin-london-wheelchair-marathon/, and it says wheelchair entrants must be able to finish a full race distance in under 3 hours. Therefore, simple maths says if I can do a half in under 1 hour 30 minutes I should be ok.

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I have to be honest I debated posted this blog as I wondered if it would be a bit woe is me, so you will have to indulge me this once and forgive me for the rather downbeat tone of this post. You see tomorrow will be the 15 year anniversary of my accident and as usual the 27 January is a date that I will be glad to see the back of. The reason for this is that I know as soon as I wake up tomorrow I will start playing the day, the lead up to my accident and the aftermath over and over in my head. I also know that this will be the last year that I can say I was able to walk for more years than I’ve been in a chair. I can guarantee you now that I will do everything I can to make sure that next year when this date comes around I will be somewhere with zero chance of snow and the sun on my face.

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