Hooray! It’s the end of ‘Monster Month’ and today I completed my longest run to date, which is also the longest run I have to do before the day of London Marathon – two little ducks: twenty-two miles. (Well I don’t know about two little ducks but at one point there was a very large goose in the middle of the road, or was it a gander? I wasn’t going to hang around to look!) Yes, the next time I run one step further than 22 miles I should be able to see the Tower of London. The Runners World schedule I am following suggested taking this run slow and relaxed, ‘enjoy the scenery, walk if necessary, finish in a good mood,’ that sort of thing. So this is exactly what I did. Ron cycled along side me and we chatted most of the way, at one point I think we actually talked about something other than the marathon!

The weather was perfect and I felt comfortable. I sipped water at regular intervals and had a carbohydrate gel about every 40 minutes. I felt a bit tired and had a little twinge in my left hamstrings at about half way, but luckily it seemed to disappear with about 4 miles to go. Into the last couple of miles I was aware that the conversation had come to bit of a standstill. Ron was trying to make jokes but I was unable to laugh. However, when at about mile 21 he said, this time without intending to be funny “I can see St Peters from here! “it did raise a laugh as I looked up and yes, there was the Garden Centre, our finish point. (If you don’t know the joke then ignore that last bit!) I jogged in to the car park to be greeted by the smiling faces of fellow Malvern Jogger Steve Ollis and his family who had all just taken part in the ‘Scenic Six’ runs at Peopleton! He also gave us news of a couple of other MJ’s who had run the Paris Marathon that same morning... do you think this running lark might catch on?

Hopefully I have inspired some of you out there to either start running or challenge yourself to run further than you have done before or enter a race maybe. If so then your moment has arrived because on Sunday, June 7, it is the Acorns Triple Run in Malvern. There will be a 1km fun run, a 5km and a half marathon, all starting from the Three Counties Showground. It’s a great day and of course a fantastic cause to raise money for. It’s nine weeks away; this means there is still time to train for it. Go to http://www.acornstriplerun.org.uk/ for an entry form and more information on the runs and http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-258-6851-0,00.html for the Runners world nine-week half marathon-training plan. Alternatively if you fancy a bit of cross country running the Malvern Joggers are holding their first 10k run on the evening of Wednesday 17th June on Castlemorton Common go to www.malvernjoggers.co.uk/index for more information and an entry form. Something for everyone there, I feel!

So it is now only three weeks to the London Marathon and this is where my training schedule ‘tapers’ (gets a little bit easier!) I am pleased about that, as the last month has been hard. It’s now time to eat (as if I need encouraging!) and ease back on the energy levels in my exercise classes (that’s me, not the participants!)