Tomorrow is a long time

Day:         118

Distance: 7.00km/4.35 miles

Time:       40:44 secs

Calories:  569

It's the day before the marathon and I have two choices; I can either rest or go for one last run. I take the latter option and go for a slow and careful run. I fall into a deliberately leisurely pace of 9:22 mins/mile and spend the 40 minutes looking warily at every curb, every crack in the road and every tree limb bursting through pavement. It would be gutting to injure myself on the eve of something I've been training for for 17 weeks, so a run that is as cautious and unchallenging as an X Factor winner's debut single seems appropriate at this time.

The eve of the marathon would seem a suitable juncture at which to look back at what I've done over the last 17 weeks. While I don't feel nervous about the marathon I've no doubt that I'll be a bag of nerves in the morning, so it will be useful to remember how far I've come since I started training before Christmas.

So, here's the marathon training record in full (with thanks to the wonderful Run Keeper app). In the last 118 days I have ...

• Undertaken 68 runs - that's an average of 4 runs per week. Some weeks I managed 5 runs, while on others I could only fit 3 in. Training for the marathon requires some juggling skills as you need to fit all of this running around work and a social life. On the whole, I think I've done this well. It's just required quite a few early mornings ...
• Covered 461 miles (743km) - that's the equivalent of running from London to Bordeaux. Not that I've any need to go to Bordeaux, but I thought it would be useful to provide a point of reference to give you an idea of how far 461 miles is
• Run for a total of 69 hours - yup, in total I've spent nearly three whole days - or the equivalent of two working weeks - chewing up and spitting out the miles. Doesn't actually sound like all that much, does it?
• Burnt off 54,135 calories - the guideline daily amount (GDA) of calories for an average man in the UK is 2,500 per day. That means I've burnt off the equivalent of around 21.5 days' worth. So why, I have to ask, have I only lost half a stone in the last 17 weeks? Friends point out that I'll have built muscle while training and that muscle weighs more than fat, which is true. But I have to admit that marathon training is something of a carte blanche if you, like me, enjoy your food and drink. If I stop training but carry on eating like I have been I'll soon be the size of a house
• Injured my left knee - this fact is less comforting than the previous four. When I injured the knee three weeks ago I thought that all this training had been for nothing, but thanks to a couple of visits to a physio and all the additional stretches I've been doing my knee now feels fine. The longest run I've done since injuring it is 13 miles and I didn't experience any pain or discomfort on that run, I just hope that was long enough to test it out ...
• Listened to some inspiring rock n' roll - training for the marathon would not have been the same without the running playlist that I put together. It's been inspiring, entertaining and comforting to have been accompanied throughout the training by bands like the Clash, the National, Biffy Clyro, AC/DC, the Ramones, The Vaccines, Funeral Party and the Stones

So there we have it. All that remains now is to run the damn thing. Wish me luck!