12 days stand between me and what will most likely be the single biggest achievement of my life.

I don’t think that’s hyperbole. I never imagined I’d run 26.2 miles in a single sitting, or indeed collectively over a period of several years. However, in under two weeks, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Fundraising has been brilliant. We had our Stacey West event this weekend, which went really well. Raffle tickets (winners listed here) sold incredibly well, and that’s pushed the total over £4900.

I’m now auctioning signed shirts, generously donated for the effort, starting with this one on eBay right now.

You can also still sponsor me here, if you wish.

In terms of training, I’m now tapering. For those who don’t know (as I didn’t a couple of months ago) when you do a marathon, you train up to around a month before, and then stop doing the longer distances. Instead of 20 miles, I’ll be doing 10 this weekend, and even my intervals are a little less intense.

That meant today’s run was a bit grounding. There was no personal best to be had, as it clocked at just under 10km. It is a wet, drab day, with no nice photo ops as the cloud settles over the Wolds. I’ve struggled with a touch of something as well this week, not sure what, so I was below par, and it all just felt a bit, well, meh.

In fairness, I probably needed that. The last couple of weeks have built up quite significantly. The Man of the Match Sponsorship at the ground was special, as was the Stacey West event, where I was presented with a signed shirt, printed ‘London 25’ on the back, which was a great touch. I’ve been hitting PBs every run, the sun has been out, and it feels like I was building towards a crescendo.

Today was a little dose of reality. I haven’t got here purely by surfing social media likes, kudos, and nice comments, but it has helped. However, strip those away, and there’s still the running. I’ve had to run three times a week, every week, since the first week of December. I haven’t shouted about all of those runs (it might surprise you to hear that), and today was one that shouldn’t be shouted about.

Hence this article, shouting about it.

I suppose the message is twofold here. For me, it was a little dose of reality, that when I go to London there’s still a job to be done, I have to earn those plaudits, likes and kudos. Also, it’s a message to you if you’re running. It shouldn’t be about what others think (a message I need to get into my head!), running is a personal thing. Sometimes, there’s no glory, nothing to shout about and nothing to screenshot and put on Instagram stories.

Sometimes, you just run. Today, I just ran.

In 12 days time, things will be very different indeed.