20 miles. Done.

[This Time Next Year]

Well as the marathon draws near, today was the day of my 20 mile run. That took me up to Havant Tesco, down to Canoe Lake, and back home to Baffins.

That's a fair old trek!

I did it in 2:47:34 which was well under the three hours I was targeting

Not long to go now, and for fundraising, I'm now over £1000, and on the way (hopefully) to £1500 which would be enough for TWO cows.

Discovered a fuelling strategy that worked for me, a sip (or more) of lucozade every mile, and a couple of jelly beans every three miles.

So now for the taper and a chance to let my legs get some energy in them for the big day.

As usual, sponsorship link is http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/davidjohns and my blog is http://davidjohnsmarathon.blogspot.co.uk/ although of course I know that so many of you have been more than generous enough already.

[Mr Nuts]

I'm just getting my head round 5k ! Respect

[Pompey Penguin]

Excellent running. What's your target for the marathon now? 3:40, 3:45? Weather dependent of course.

Pleased to hear that you have a good fuelling programme, but you might need a bit more than that on the day. Remember, you are going to need to take in 600-700 calories en route, so work out how much Lucozade and jelly babies that is, and see if you need to up your intake. There will be plenty of stuff available at water stops, so make the most of it, especially in the early stages when you are taking it steady and eating is relatively easy.

[Earl Grey]

Well done, TTNY.....keep going - I can hear that cow mooing now!

[This Time Next Year]

I'm just getting my head round 5k ! Respect

5k is still a good distance, so hats off to you for that too!

I realised this weekend, that it was four years ago I completed my first race, a sport relief 6 miler, and I'd not been doing much running before that, so who knows, in four or five years time you too could be marathon ready!

[This Time Next Year]

Excellent running. What's your target for the marathon now? 3:40, 3:45? Weather dependent of course.

Pleased to hear that you have a good fuelling programme, but you might need a bit more than that on the day. Remember, you are going to need to take in 600-700 calories en route, so work out how much Lucozade and jelly babies that is, and see if you need to up your intake. There will be plenty of stuff available at water stops, so make the most of it, especially in the early stages when you are taking it steady and eating is relatively easy.

Well as I got through two bottles of lucozade yesterday, I figure three bottles for the marathon, which gets me near 400kcal, no idea about the calorific content of jelly beans but hopefully between a fair few of those, and a gel pack or two (if I can force myself to eat that) then I should be OK.

I think the mistake I have made in previous races where jelly beans/babies have been available, is I wait until the closing stages and then as I am struggling, try to stuff too many into my gob at once.

Pacing them out steadily definitely made a big difference.

I'm also used to carrying the drink bottles on the run too, so I will be resisiting the urge to discard half a bottle of lucozade, or even guzzle too much, for the perceived benefit of running with empty hands.

[Mr Nuts]

I'm just getting my head round 5k ! Respect

5k is still a good distance, so hats off to you for that too!

I realised this weekend, that it was four years ago I completed my first race, a sport relief 6 miler, and I'd not been doing much running before that, so who knows, in four or five years time you too could be marathon ready!

I only started it at the beginning of feb . Very slow at about 37mins . Steadily improving though . This Saturday I recorded my fastest time so far of 30:07 . Next goal is to break the half hour mark .

[This Time Next Year]

Have you heard of parkrun?

Give them a Google if not, very good organised 5k runs every week, oh and they're free too!

[Mr Nuts]

Yes I do it once a month at Staunton country park . The rest of the time I use a treadmill at the gym due to my shins and right knee not being as co operative as they used to be .