The big day is soon upon us.
But first of all, let me apologise for my lack of blogging. Sadly it's the poor excuse of being under-staffed with our hardest working reporter Michael Russell suddenly being taken ill and out of action for six weeks. Don't worry he's making a full recovery and is eager to get back on patch.
As for me, the last month has been dominated by work, Olympics, more Olympics, a sad, sudden break of no sport, before being quickly engulfed in all things Paralympics.
Last night's Thriller Thursday was a real wake up call for me, as to be frank, my training has been a bit flat on the ground.
To see Jonnie Peacock smash a Paralympic record and leave the legend that is Oscar Pistorious in a puff of smoke to win gold in the T44 100m was more thrilling than Usain Bolt's double title.
This lunchtime I rushed into the gym (conveniently a three minute walk from the office) and onto the treadmill for an enthusiastic 5km run.
Tomorrow I will enjoy a gentle session at my weekly spinning class before nervously waiting on the start line at Ealing Eagles' 10km race around Gunnersbury Park on Sunday morning. It's the club's first major race event and carefully timed as a suitable warm up to the Ealing Half at the end of the month.
We won't have the thunderous roar of the Olympic stadium crowd behind us, but I'm hoping going through the motions of a real race day – signing in, collecting my ankle timer, getting into the zone and pushing for a PB – should more than thrust me into the final three weeks of training.
My long runs have been limited to around 15km over the past few weeks so I need an adrenaline boost to get me to the half.
Whether it's a physical enhancement or just a mental thing, I will be taking some energy gels to perk me up at the half way point. Either way, it helped drag me round my first 10km race in March to reach a rather respectful 54minute PB.
On Sunday I'm aiming for the one hour mark, given my busy work load and the 27C promised by the weatherman. Plus I don't want to over do it before the big day on September 30 – of course!
In the meantime, I've invited my boyfriend, parents and sister to cheer me on in the hope it will inspire them to part with some of their hard earned cash for my fundraising.
So far I've collected £77 for Epilepsy Action, but my target is £250, so I have a lot of begging to do...
I might see some of you at Gunnersbury Park, wish me luck!
Happy running,
Poppy
