So, having just read the previous entries, I have something to live up to! My journey to running for the Eagles in the London marathon next year has been somewhat different as I am not a first timer. 

I have never missed the London Marathon. It started when I was a baby, but my Mum (who has never done more than run for a bus) was obsessed with watching it on the TV so every April we made sure to be up early with the TV on ready to watch those mad people run for hours and hours through London. One of my favourites was watching Eamonn Martin finish first after a super exciting sprint finish in 1993. Even years later as an adult when on holiday in Italy, I managed to find a TV showing the race so I could cheer for Paula Radcliffe.

The first thing to mention about myself is that I have a slight aversion to the word "training", and secondly I am more of a social runner than a competitive animal.  This being the case, you may ask how I found myself here - one thing I will give considerable blame to is the Eagles spirit - it's addictive!  That, and the 22nd April 2012. 

 How well do you know your fellow Eagles? Even the most chatty of runners would be hard put to talk to everyone in the club now that our membership has grown to over 140 and rising.

So far we've read about Alan, Mark and Vicky, what they enjoy, struggle with, eat and listen to on the run. Here's Allie Collins' take on what it takes to be an Eagle.

So here it is the last of my blogs (stop cheering, I can hear you!!). Make yourself comfy, it's a long one.

So here we are the penultimate blog.

Isn’t it annoying when you write loads for a blog then lose it….second attempt….

Hello all those following the journey, I have 2 weeks of full training to report on today, after this starts the taper madness!

Two very different weeks training again. Who said the course of marathon training never runs smooth - they were right!

Week 10 was a good week, did the required speed training, all the mileage including an 18 miler, got a PB at Gunnersbury parkrun of 25.33 and threw in a salsa class just for the hell of it. Happy training!

I will keep this update very short until I have some running to write about.

I saw physio Scott last week and managed to get to the route of the problem. I have damaged a branch of my sciatic nerve which runs down the reefs side of my leg from glute to foot.

Now on week 4 with no running or cycling. I did manage to get on the cross trainer and cycle machine today and was over the moon just to be exercising again.

My physio work has been great and I do feel a lot better this week.

Week 8

So after my return from a not too shabby (for me) half marathon time in Brighton, I came back to London with a bug and spent most of the week feeling sorry for myself and unable to do any training. Not wanting to miss the long run I waited until the weekend and headed out for the planned 15 miler.