THIS has been my last week of ‘proper’ training for the London Marathon and my schedule didn’t include anything too difficult... oh, other than the 12 x 2 minutes uphill sprints on Tuesday with a mile jog either side, and the ‘brisk’ run on Thursday, oh and the 12 miles at ‘Marathon Pace’ on Sunday!

Other than that the runs on this ‘taper’ week were ‘easy’! I did complete all the training sessions in the scheduled time although the twelve miles at marathon pace on Sunday felt quite hard towards the end, and as I finished I thought to myself ‘crikey, there’s going to be another 14 miles at that pace’ . . . or words to that effect!

However, with only days to go until the big day I have very little training left to do. There is a little bit of speed work scheduled for Tuesday consisting of some 400m sprints with 200m jog recoveries and I will once again use Hereford Athletic track for this.

Then there is an easy four-mile recovery run the following day and that’s it!

I think the family will then heave a sigh of relief as it really has taken over our lives for the past four months.

It has to, though, as it is a huge commitment, running 3 to 5 times per week and finding time to fund raise, not to mention going to work!

Having said that, if you were thinking of running the London Marathon next year, I would highly recommend it because for me the whole experience has already been very rewarding. I have learned a lot about running and feel proud that I have had the will power to stick to my schedule, even on the days that I really didn’t feel like going out.

I haven't skimped on the training at all, and Ron has been along side me on his bike for most of the runs. He has carefully plotted routes and helped me with my pacing; I feel he has shared the experience with me.  I have competed in several races along the way as part of my preparation including a half-marathon around Silverstone racetrack! We have visited Acorns Children’s Hospice in Worcester and met some of the other Acorns runners. I attended the 'Meet the Experts day' in London, which was really useful and included talks from the likes of Dave Bedford and Liz Yelling. I have eaten sensibly, drank barely any alcohol, tried nearly every carbohydrate gel on the market, read running magazines and books, researched things on the internet and listened to good advice from seasoned marathon runners.

Because of all this I feel I can go to the start line prepared and think to myself that I have done everything I possibly could to make this run, and my recovery, a success. However, being a mother of three, I can liken training for the London Marathon to being pregnant! Everybody wants to give you their experience of when they did it (much appreciated); you can plan and prepare for the big day as much as possible; but when the time comes absolutely anything could happen so I am keeping an open mind. The only thing left for me to do now is look forward to what I think and hope is going to be a fantastic experience in London on April 26 2009.

A massive thanks once again to everybody who has given me advice, support, encouragement and sponsorship! If would like to sponsor me please go to www.justgiving.com/vikkisivertsen.