Final Update:

23/04/12 - there you go, 3hrs40min53sec, a good 1 and a bit minutes under Mum's time! Truly uncanny how the race unfolded and my 'unrealistic' target of 3hrs42min loomed as more and more realistic. 

The race in summary: first 20kms felt good and comfortable and I kept a pace quicker than all training runs. I backed off the pace between 20-30kms and had some difficulty from around 32kms onwards. 36-42kms were extremely tough, but finished without the need of medical assistance so couldn't have been that bad! 

All in all extremely satisfied with the time and happy to have the experience under my belt. The support along the route was quite extraordinary and definitely contributed to achieving a time well better than my expectations. 

A big thank you to all who have donated through this page, it is sincerely appreciated.   

Hello! Thanks for visiting my fundraising page. I have finally decided to try and run a marathon. My biggest challenge so far is trying to train through the English winter - a far cry from Brisbane's balmy conditions! My sincere concern is having my Mum's time of 3hrs 42min in the back of my head (she was 51 at the time). This seems a long long way off at the moment.   

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I will keep an update on how my training runs are going below. I won't bother including the runs to work and back (3-8kms), nor the hill runs I started towards the end of January.  

06/02/12 - Now I have 'some' data to work with I'm trying to work out how far off I am from the disturbingly fast time of my Mum's (3hrs 42min). My average time so far, if ran over 42km, would give me a time of 3hrs 48min. Not sure if this means I am on track or not really. The longest run I have done was on Saturday just gone - 20km, so using this time as a guide for running double that distance I'm not sure is realistic. Though I should be fitter come April 22 than I was on Saturday. Best I read a few articles on this sort of thing I think! 

Also, probably should pass on a story from Saturday's run. I got through 45 random opera songs over nearly 2hrs and in the last kilometre Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma finally came on. I was having a moment as I sprinted home through Kensington streets to the crescendo of the song only to cut a corner and hit a metal guide post - making contact with my thigh which has already come up in deep purple bruising. Professional!

11/02/12 - Beautiful run along the Thames today. Got through a double CD of best of Bob Dylan - in hindsight way too reflective for running! My new shoes felt amazing. Feeling a little anxious about working my way up to the required distances without too much time left!

18/02/12 - Terrible run along the Thames! Decided to go the scenic route past Westminster, Tate Modern, Globe Theatre, Tower Bridge etc and forgot about the huge crowds on a Saturday. Stopping and starting, getting lost, terribly low energy levels, and a nasty blister which will not go away. Time was poor, but will improve on this on the next run. I've decided to reduce my running kms during the week in light of my sore knees and ever tightening ITB's. Will try and compensate on the bike - I'm sure there's an article about this somewhere.

21/02/12 - my new riding regime well underway - yesterday and this morning have had 2 amazing rides out to Richmond Park and back to work. Quite bizarre seeing a bevy of Deer before work.

26/02/12 - Another terrible long run. 31.23km out to Richmond Park & back. Really need to get smarter about all this - a milkshake before leaving and no further nutrition/hydration over a 3 hour run is ludicrous (why did it take me so long to realise this?). Hate to think of someone experienced reading this! Anyway, will improve nutrition and probably cut back on distance of long runs - I'm writing this the day after yesterday's long run and am still a mess. Hamstrings, left knee, and right shoulder are all extremely sore. Projected time based on yesterdays run is 4hrs 5min - need to find 23 minutes in 8 weeks through a smarter approach and better fitness!!!!  

07/03/12 - Turned out the hamstring was more than just sore - took a week to feel confident enough to run again so have enjoyed 8 days off! Not sure how much impact this might have, but hopefully a smooth run now to the race.

17/03/12 - 2 good runs in 2 days, feeling good after probably a little too long off. Right hammy still a little sore!

30/03/12 - last long run of the program? Started out with the intention not to worry about time, and seems I didn't based on 6:09min/km! Over the full distance this would give me a time of 4hrs 19min - that's 37 minutes longer than I need to run it in. I'm placing a lot of confidence in 'game day' improvements - the crowd, the drink stations, having runners around etc - hopefully this will cut 37 minutes off my time!

Off to Istanbul for Easter so unlikely to get much done there, then we're only 2 weeks out - and they tell me you shouldn't be loading up on miles during this period. Might kick up the heels and relax .

16/04/12 - 10km run this morningfelt good - have had the cold for the last week from Istanbul and was nice to get out for a run. Feeling a little underdone but nothing much can be done about that now! Excited about this Sunday. Here's to not tripping on the pavement and breaking a leg!

19/04/12 - went and registered last night and for the first time it really dawned on me that this is a massive event. Nearly 40,000 runners, that defies belief! Now really quite excited. My cold is nearly gone and whilst not feeling as prepared as I would like to be I can't wait for Sunday.

23/04/12 - there you go, 3hrs40min53sec, a good 1 and a bit minutes under Mum's time! Truly uncanny how the race unfolded and my 'unrealistic' target of 3hrs42min loomed as more and more realistic. 

The race in summary: first 20kms felt good and comfortable and I kept a pace quicker than all training runs. I backed off the pace between 20-30kms and had some difficulty from around 32kms onwards. 36-42kms were extremely tough, but finished without the need of medical assistance so couldn't have been that bad! 

All in all extremely satisfied with the time and happy to have the experience under my belt. The support along the route was quite extraordinary and definitely contributed to achieving a time well better than my expectations. 

A big thank you to all who have donated through this page, it is sincerely appreciated.