I can now tick off 'interview on the radio' from my to-do list! Last night was spent in the company of Robert Neesam on Hospital Radio Bedside which surprisingly wasn't as nerve-racking as I was expecting! Unsure how many people were actually tuned in at the time and unfortunately John couldn't get logged in from home to listen as they are waiting for a sponsor, but it was a great start to my publicity trail! And as if it couldn't get any better, Debs phoned yesterday to tell me that I was on the Bournemouth Echo website as the '4th most popular story'! This should mean that the article is in the paper today.
It was also the Bournemouth Bay half marathon yesterday. In the middle of the week the forecast had been for torential rain and strong winds - couldn't have been furthest from reality as it was a gorgeous spring day and I caught the sun! This was the final 'prep' for London and really gauges how the speed sessions have been coming along - I was competitive and ran really well, even catching and beating someone that I've never beaten before which gave me a real high! Unfortunately the results aren't yet posted but I stopped my watch on 1:35:19 and it wasn't until I got home that I discovered I'd run exactly that time last year in setting the Bournemouth Joggers club record! What are the chances of doing this? I only hope that my official time knocks at least one second off my time!

The realisation of what I'm going to do has just hit me I think! Last night was the first (ideally the last but I have a feeling it won't be!) night I've laid awake with lots of 'what if' and 'need to do this' and 'need to do that' stuff going through my mind for hours....yep, I was starting to panic a little. Still, Missy Harris reassured me first thing this morning at work that I was not to worry and everything would be fine! Donations from local businesses for our raffle cum auction on 19 April are arriving daily so that list is steadily growing which is great

Yikes, it's now exactly one month before the start of my adventure. Things are starting to get a little bit close and scary! Fundraising stats : £999 for Paul and £559 offline and £910 online for Cancer Research, making a total for them of £1,469 and a grand total of £2,468. The Grizzly a few weeks ago was brilliant : the mud baths weren't quite as squelchy and deep as in previous years but the terrain was still very slippery and the ups and downs and water splashes were still there (one of the climbs was so steep they'd added a rope to drag yourself up the hill with!) - photos were brilliant. Weather was good although there was an almighty hailstorm that hit me around 2 miles from home! Finished in 3:45 and I've never completed in under 4 hours before! Bodes well for London marathon (hopefully!). Then the following weekend myself, 3 others from Bournemouth Joggers (Dory, Angie and Caroline) and Linds (who is running in her first ever marathon at London and doing extremely well with her training I should add) braved yet more wind and rain to skid and slide 22.94 (exactly!) miles over the Purbecks (ie hilly!) for our last long training run before London. We ended up muddier than the week before! Easter weekend saw my shortest weekend run with the Rotary 1/4 marathon - again it was blustery so difficult to run in a straight line in some places but I ran well, finishing in 7th place in a time of 47:22. This weekend is the Bournemouth Bay 1/2 - guess what!? It's due to pour with rain and blow a gale...again! The wind is bound to be in our faces either on the outward or return trip along the seafront....great!! I'm going to be the 'guest of honour' on Hospital Radio this Sunday which is going to be exciting...I've never been interviewed on radio before! Then I contacted the Bournemouth Echo today and they've taken down my story and the camera man is coming up tomorrow lunch time to take some photos and I should be in the paper in the next couple of days ....told you it's all getting a bit scary!