You give a little love...

So its all over, the London Marathon was completed in 4 hours 28 minutes. I initially said under 4 hours, so that was achieved and given the heat its a time I am well proud of.

It was a really good experience, the first 6 or 7 miles just flew past, I had a big smile on my face as I ran through Greenwich, enjoying the support of the crowds, getting sprayed with holy water by vicars outside churches, it was ace.

After about 5 miles I ran past Jordan and Peter Andre, I gave Peter a high 5 and wished them well, and I was on my merry way. I don't know what happened to him, but I was running with someone dressed as 'the Stig' from top gear for a while. The music on my mp3 was great, so thanks to everyone who nominated a song. It was a surreal experience, running across tower bridge to 'ice, ice baby'.

I really enjoyed running through the docklands, as I used to work in South Quay and Canary Wharf and there was some great support, I think due to the many pubs around there.

It wasn't until about 20 miles when I started to feel the heat, but running through the showers really helped. Miles 22-24 were the hardest but once I got to 24 I knew I was going to make it. It's great approaching Westminster and the support you get is amazing and it is so inspirational. With about 400m to go I saw someone do a handstand and walk toward the line on his hands, I don't think he made it on his hands but a great effort nonetheless!

Once you get to Big Ben you know you are there, so you just have to keep on going, you get to St James park and then turn the corner and you can see the finish and I had a mixed emotion of wanting it to be over and not wanting it to be over, and pride that I had made it. And then chatting to the other runners and congratulating them, getting my medal and then meeting up with Kim from the FSI at the meet and greet area.

I want to say a big thank you to all my supporters, the FSI girls, Gemma, my Mum and Dad and especially to Rob and Erin, who saw me three times and got me home afterwards.

Another big thank you to everyone who sponsored me, the total is somewhere up near £2,400 when you add on gift aid, so a cracking effort.

So this is it, no more running, no more blog, I know that at times this has been dark and introspective, but I also hope that it's been funny at times and perhaps a little bit inspirational.

Everything I know was learned from films made in the 70's and 80's so I will leave you with a couple of pearls of wisdom that hold sway with me right now:
The 1st song on my mp3 was the theme tune from Back to the Future, so in the words of Marty McFly "If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything"

And from Bugsy Malone' "You give a little love and it all comes back to you (na na na na-na-na-na) Your gonna be remembered for the things that you say and do"

Perfect Training Routine...Not

Last 2 weekends I have had 2 stag do's both for my bro, which have really helped me wind down my training before the big day.


Our alternative training methods began by drinking at 10AM on the coach to Potter Heigham, where we picked up our vessel and accommodation for the weekend, the Caribbean Light 3. Eight Lads, one boat, 2 toilets, set sail on the Norfolk Broads dressed in sailor outfits. Quality.


Exercise routines included Mini Golf on a Pirate Ship at Great Yarmouth, the most excellent Quaser Laser experience and dancing in a cheesy disco. I was proud to be on the winning side at Quaser Laser, scoring 6000 points alongside brother Rob, (5500 points) Tom 'Top Gun' Buckley (12,000 points)and Will 'Human Shield' Smith. (100 points) That's not a typo, he actually did only score 100 points when everyone else scored at least 5000. Loser.

So I'm all set now, 6 days to go, all the training is in the bag so all I have to do is rest up and eat, my favorite 2 parts of marathon training. Oh, and register at the Excel centre to collect my number and timing chip and stuff.

Second stag do was tame by comparison, drinking in the city of London until the early hours, we did get some female attention, some wanted, some unwanted. We saw one of Alan Sugar's Apprentices, the American one who describes herself as a 'Rough tough cream puff' and some horrible woman who thought she could impress us by pouring water all over herself in a wannabe-sexy way!

Roll on the marathon

Ollie

What else can go wrong?

I have just run 22 miles, my last long run before the marathon. Lots of things went wrong.

1. I fell over. I got about a mile down the road, and I tripped on a tree root and fell over, grazing my knee, elbow and hand. I feel a bit like a child. Mum, can I have a plaster?

2. Speaking of plasters, I usually put them over my nipples to stop the ol' joggers nipple syndrome. One of them fell off I'm not sure if this happened when I fell over, but it happened, so I was also bleeding from my right nipple.

3. To try to rectify the nipple situation, I tried to put the front of my shirt over my head, not like Ravenelli's goal celebration, but so I could still see, but this caused additional chafing under the armpits, and some funny looks from other people, especially as I ran past the swanky bars in football

4. I had a cunning plan. I took an extra bottle of water that I left by a little wall, so I could get some extra fluid for the last 3 miles or so. When I came back it was either too dark and I missed it or some busy body tidied it up. So I had no water or Lucozade for the last 3 miles.

5. I think I hit the wall. On all of the runs I have done so far, I have never stopped. That means that I have run or jogged all of them. After about 19 miles, and the lack of water, my resolve weakened and I started walking. I must've walked about 2 miles in total. My Aussie mate Matt Wells does a bit of running and I was telling him about how I can focus and run for long distances, her called in the Ollie Gray 'Mind Of Steel' technique. Today it was 'Mind of Plywood'

I've had some feedback about this blog that its too heavy and negative, so I am going to finish on a real positive.

On Friday night we held a Race Night in London, everyone had a great night and we raised loads of money, so I have now raised over £1500 for the FSI, which is absolutely fantastic. A massive thank you to everyone who came and making it a success.

You know what? I am glad all those things went wrong today because it shows that while the 'Mind of Steel' escaped me for a while, it came back I ran the last mile uphill, I usually find it really tough but I flew up there, listening to 'Smack my Bitch up' on repeat.

Its better that these things go wrong now, so I know that I can overcome them and keep on going on the day. If I can do 22, 26.2 will be no problem.