On the eve of the London Marathon, my thoughts go out to all those first time runners. Well to all the runners actually and very best of luck. My own mini landmark is fast approaching with only a week to go before my first 10k race. 10k in itself is ok (well still at my upper limit really) but very do-able . The problem is two-fold. 1. It is a race and 2. it is a very hilly race and I haven't really done hills so went out with the boss to tackle a couple in my new trail shoes. The whole day had been interspersed (spelling?) with pretty torrential rain storms but by the time I had my gear on and was ready to run, a wonderful window of clear weather appeared and ran a lovely but hard 4k with my heart about to burst out of my chest on the hilly bits at some points - but this was a much, much needed mini hill training session and the only thing which made me feel good was despite my pace slowing to a virtual crawl on some steeper inclines, my recovery seemed ok. One hill was so steep it was known as the "gut buster" and although i felt close to wretching at one point, i can confirm it has not busted this little gut, however , it was a real experience and the views at the top were spectacular. Doh.. No camera again but doubt if I could capture some of the lovely scenery around here anyway. Gorse is glowing, bluebells and wood anenomies making an appearance and best of all, the swallows are back!!!!!! Massive warm wishes to all running the marathon for charity tomorrow. I will be wishing you lightness on every step. XXX. P.s. how do you keep cats off your car? Cruelty free answers only please to ensure no-one gets offended.....