Support

The general advice during taper is to ensure you eat healthily and try to get a couple more hours sleep each night.  Hmmm, well I'm managing the first but a few early mornings and late nights have definitely put pay to the second.  I will try to do better over the weekend.  
As we're not running on Sunday morning, there is the option of a lie-in then.  I'll probably still wake up at 6:30, so I may as well get up to track Sarah and Katie's progress in the Paris Marathon.  There is talk of us getting together to sit around the computer, tracking them via satellite - very high tech!  

Sarah didn't have much opportunity for rest and relaxation last night as she found herself cooking dinner for us after the club run.  We tucked into some lovely jacket spuds and I think she should offer this service every Wednesday night!
We toasted her 'good luck' with our water and fruit juices.  Hopefully we'll be toasting her success with something stronger in a few weeks.
Both Katie and Sarah are taking a crew of supporters with them to Paris.  We really do appreciate our supporters.  As my husband keeps telling me, its as tiring to support as it is to run (I don't necessarily agree with him!).  It can give you a real boost to know you will see a familiar face at a certain point.  The support in these big races is fantastic.  There seemed to be a larger than usual contingent of Welsh people in the crowd supporting London 2009.  That's the only way I can explain why everyone kept cheering for me, and not Karen who was right beside me.  We both had our names on our vests but by mile 20 Karen was convinced that I was a celebrity of some sort!  One lady at mile 16 shouted "Come on Sian, you're looking good" which gave me such a lift at that point.  Thats why I found the last mile quite hard as it suddenly goes much quieter (there are barriers to stop the crowd getting too close and everyone wants to be as close as possible to the finish line).  So if you are in London on the 17th, hang around Birdcage Walk - this is one runner who'll appreciate it!
I also received a lovely email this morning from the Chairman of MACS, thanking those who are fundraising via the marathon for the charity and letting us know what a difference our money can make.  I'm hoping to make a big part of my fundraising income tomorrow, so it was very timely for me.  
This morning's session was our last threshold one of the schedule.  Its getting even harder to find new or variations on local routes after all these weeks, but we managed to add some different bits in.  Running is a great way to get to know your local area.  Although I only moved to the area less than 3 years ago, I know some paths and tracks that long term locals haven't discovered yet!