THE taper has begun, albeit not very noticeably! The focus this week has been on pace.

Tuesday I was scheduled to run some sprints consisting of 6x800m fast followed by a 100m recovery, with a mile jog warm up and warm down respectively.

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to pop back over to Hereford and use their athletic track. The session went well, but I find running for a lengthy period on the track affects my legs in a different way to road running, particularly shins and calves, so I welcomed a deep post-workout sports massage on these areas when I returned home, which brought instant relief.

Thursday’s schedule called for me to run 10 miles at ‘marathon pace’. Again this session went well and I stayed on target for the duration.

We started and finished this session from the Anchor at Welland, so we popped in for a coffee afterwards – reading their menu board made us think next time we will time the run to finish and arrive back there for lunchtime!

Easter Sunday’s run saw us back on the 18-mile circuit through the villages surrounding Bredon Hill. I love this route; a few gentle inclines and very picturesque all the way. However, on this occasion we hadn’t banked on being inundated by cyclists! You could have put money on the ‘Tour de Bredon’ taking place in both directions simultaneously! In fact we came face to face with one pack twice, they called out “Good morning again!”

But the funniest instance (quietly encouraged by Ron!) was when, running up a hill, I overtook a lady cyclist! Ultimately another good session keeping to the correct pace easily despite having ‘heavy legs’ from the start.

So during the ‘taper’, my focus is to complete my runs according to the suggested pace and time of the schedule that I have been using from the beginning of my 16-week plan.

This means taking things easier in my exercise classes (just me, not the participants!) and resting and recovering as much as possible. The miles are ‘in the bank’ now and simply a case of keeping the legs ticking over for the next two weeks. It is also important to be consistent with my eating and not introduce anything new into my diet. Sensible carbohydrate loading is key, although I must not overeat and feel sluggish. However, eating too much protein can fill you up too much and prevent sufficient carbohydrate being taken on board.

This seems a good point to say that generally weight loss and marathon training do not go together. This is because it is so important to eat more carbohydrates than usual to sustain the increase in the weekly mileage. Before deciding to run a marathon, make sure that this is something you are comfortable with. I put on a couple of kilos within the first few weeks of training and I recently read that between now and race day the average marathon runner should put on another two kilos!

Most if not all of this will be burned during the race and if not a few sessions of ‘Body Pump’ should soon burn off the excess.

Deciding to run a marathon is the easy part. Starting and finishing your training and completing the marathon takes preparation and planning: 1) Run regularly. 2) Build up gradually. 3) 20 x 20*. 4) Understand marathon pace. 5) Be flexible and adaptable to your needs. 6) Be committed and disciplined. 7) Build in regular rest – no training at all. 8) Have confidence and prepare. 9) Have an understanding other half!

*20 x 20 = be able to run 20 miles or 3 ½ hours which ever is less, 20 days before marathon day.

I still need a few more donations to reach my target of raising £2000 for Acorns Childrens Hospice. If you would like to sponsor me please go to www.justgiving.com/vikkisivertsen. Many thanks once again to those of you who have already donated.