April Come I Will

With less than a month to go until the London Marathon, things are really hotting up. Unlike the weather which remains colder than a witch's tit. Whatever that means. At any rate, coming back from a run, my nipples seem to be semi-permanently hard from the cold. I have never known it to be so cold this late into March. I hope that there is an increase in temperature in April and on Marathon Day. Even a slight increase would be welcome.

The long weekend runs have continued, averaging about 20 miles each weekend. This Sunday, I was "only" able to manage 17 miles. For some reason, I just didn't have the strength, and in hindsight, it was probably better that I called it a day and finished the run, rather than carry on and risk injuring myself. I made up for it by doing a longer-than-usual short run on Tuesday. All in all, I've run a total of more than 630 miles in my training for this marathon, which is more than I had trained at this point last year and the year before. These 630 miles make up roughly the distance between London and Milan. All in all, I think the total distance covered since I began training for my very first marathon is around 2000 miles - that would be roughly the distance between London and Beirut. Hopefully by mentioning Milan and Beirut in this paragraph, the Milan and Beirut tourist boards might offer me a free holiday?

The sponsorship is increasing, and I am now up to nearly £1000. It has definitely been harder raising the donations this time round but I am grateful for whatever I can get, sponsorship-wise. I have had a few donations from anonymous donors. If only there were some way of finding out who they were, so I could give them a big thank-you and shake their hand. The best way of giving is to give and not let others know that you have given, so I expect they're not in it for the thanks or the fame, just an act of genuine kindness.

We've seen a picture of me with the new running vest - here's a picture of me actually modelling it. If I may say so, I think green really suits me.

Jolly green runner

Vested Interest

Under six weeks to go and less than forty days now. The Marathon slowly creeps up on us.

The fundraising is showing signs of improving, and I have now exceeded a quarter of my target, thanks to some very generous sponsors. I haven't even had to resort to much emotional blackmail or anything. I have pulled out all the stops in attempting to get as much sponsorship as I can. I'm organising another quiz night in which I will also be writing and asking the questions. I have put up posters and sponsorship forms in the apartment building in which I live, and also on all the floors at work, though some humorless spoilsport keeps taking down the poster and form on the first floor. Must be someone I insulted in a previous job.

The training is still going very well, with another long run completed at the weekend. I thought I might have picked up a slight groin strain but my fears appear to be baseless and in fact, complete rubbish because I went for another run today with no ill effects. Even though we are now in the middle of March (not quite Spring yet - that'll be when it's the vernal equinox - March 20th) the temperatures have not really improved. It is still bitterly cold, and this is not helped by the especially chilly winds. I await the day when I can finally go out for a run without having to wear a jacket over my running shirt, but I shan't get my hopes up just yet.

From running shirt to running vest, I have just received my Whizz-Kidz vest from the charity. It's a lovely bright shade of green. Green is the new black, or so they say. At any rate, while I'm running the London Marathon in that little number, even my friends in Manchester should be able to see me.

Here's a little picture to whet your appetite.

I'm so vain, I probably think those pictures are of me.