Tapering, admin and nappies

Not a typical week in my build up to the race. I've managed a total of 8 miles - actually a welcome relief after the previous two weeks, and also managed to be up working until midnight and undertaking many visits to the hospital pre, during and post the birth of my third child Eddie.

Latest distraction from training

The little man arrived on Wednesday 14th and has pretty much dominated the week's activities, as one might expect. It adds another dimension to the preparations for the race, is likely to mean I may struggle with enough sleep before heading to Morocco, and makes me very glad I've got all my key training out of the way before this week.

Apart from a solitary eight mile outing on Sunday (a most pleasant change without a pack of any kind) the only training has been some Pilates - both a one-to-one session and a "reformer" class - lots of sliding up and down on a platform using assorted bars, straps and balls to develop core strength and increase flexibility/mobility. Both are quite hard work, but still seem to be doing me some good. To see if I can push things along a bit I've signed up to see a Chiropractor recommended by Lee at Breathe Pilates next week. Not sure what that will entail.

We've also been contacted by an MSc sports psychology student from Sheffield Hallam Uni who wants to work with us to develop our mental preparations, so Rich, Darryl and I are heading there later in the week to see what we can glean from a few sessions with him.

In between all of the above I'm trying to work through my seemingly endless list of jobs to tick off before I fly out on 5th April. This has been helped enormously by having now finished work until I get back from the race - first two weeks of paternity leave, followed by some annual leave and before you know it, a whole month off - brilliant!

It's getting very close now, and I'm starting to get really, really excited.