Four days to go...!!

Only four days to go and the last minute worries are beginning to kick in. There are transport worries, accommodation worries, weather worries, injury worries, logistics, safety, fundraising, packing and all manner of other details.

Injuries are always a fear this close to an event. Firstly, there's no time to recover, secondly, a niggle can play on the mind as the run starts. I move very slowly in the morning after getting out of bed. Knees, ankles and hips are very stiff. Even getting out of the car can be a trial. Every step is potential to pull something, tear something or tweak something.

And all the rest? Well, it'll be all right on the night!! Probably sit down tonight and make a plan, make a list and make a deal with myself not to worry. Yes, we want it right but actually everyone will muck in and it will indeed be alright on the night.

Cornwall here we come. Four days to go until "fourdaysrunning".

Four runners, four PBs

The place: Paddock Wood, the event: the annual half marathon, the result: multiple PBs!!

It was a beautiful day. Cold and crisp, sunny and warm, and still, very still. The scene was set for personal best times. Mine was a feeble 2:24 and needed sorting. I was aiming for 2:15 or better. Jim was ready for sub 1:40, Matt had just done a very hilly 2:08 so could go sub 2 and Marianne was improving all the time with a 2:37 recently.

The best part about Paddock Wood is that it is flat. Very flat. Apart from the normal issues of minimal muscle use compared to hilly trails, most people would take "flat" any day!! The crowds were out in force, especially around some noisy pubs and the plentiful water stations. It was set to be a day to remember.

What of the times? Jim came in at 1:37, Matt 1:46, Marianne 2:32 and I achieved my aim with a 2:10 to make it a proud day for us all. Thank you Paddock Wood Half Marathon.

Longest run of the year so far...

The time had come to step up the distance. Monday nights of around 7K are all very well, but with the Cornish Hills only five weeks away it was time to move up over 20K. The cold was all around us as we stepped off the train at Victoria Station. The run to Chislehurst would top up at 24K - long, tough but very necessary.

Victoria Street, Parliament Square, Westminster Bridge, London Eye, OXO Tower, The Globe, Golden Hind, Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge Station, Hays Galleria, Bermondsey Wall, Southwark Park, Surrey Quays, Deptford Creek, Cutty Sark, Greenwich Park, Blackheath, Lee Green, Horn Park, Mottingham Village, Elmstead Woods, Chislehurst Rec and the finish in Empress Drive!!

The next five weeks will be full of long runs, hilly runs and back to back runs. All the ingredients for a successful attempt on the Cornish Coast Path.

Forty days to go...!!

That day has arrived - it's forty days to go. Reality strikes, that first vertical trail is approaching and Cornwall 2013 is closer to being a reality. So what needs to happen now it's only forty days to go?

1) Need fitness? Now's the time to get fit. Run longer rumbles, steeper trails and back to back days. Join our pre Cornwall training runs including a back to back weekender on the 20/21 April.

2) Need kit? Now is the time to get kit. Running shoes can be bought and comfortably inducted to muddy trails. Make sure you have kit for all weathers, we don't know what Cornwall will throw at us!!

3) Need sponsors? Now is the time to get hit. Facebook, email, letters and even twitter are all ways to get hits on your justgiving account. Start to rev up you fundraising effort so that it's all done before you start the run.

Finally, forty soon becomes thirty, twenty and ten!! See you on the trails!!