In for a penny ........................ by Ally_R

Once upon a time there was a youngish woman who entered the FLM Ballot and low and behold she got a place and her name is Allyson or Ally to everyone except her mother!! Dilligently along with her trusty hound Harvey she followed the 16-week FIRST training plan - it wasn't always easy as Ally has a family, works full time and has a life or so she thought until the training started. The training wasn't without its woes, it rained, it snowed, blizzards blew, there was even a training day when she saw all 4 seasons - this felt like the worst day of all and nearly gave up - but Ally can be quite thrawn (willful) and stuck with her training through the good days and the bad, with visits to the physio for various punishments or to reframe that - treatments!

Now Ally doesn't get out much so heading to the big smoke was quite an adventure and she took a flight with her family from Glasgow - there was a slight delay at the airport which added to the frustr.. no excitement. As the plane was about to land at Gatwick the plane changed direction and zoomed back up into the sky, 'fit a fleg' she got (what a fright). Apparently there was a runway inspection and the flight was diverted to another runway - you would've thought that the pilot would've been made aware of that before the flight almost touched base!  Never mind thought Ally, this all adds to the adventure - she was now in London, England - WOW thought the wee jock fae the north and on she went with her family where security was much tighter and her little boy got searched which gave him a dreadful fright and he thought he was going to get marched away to the cells. Mummy made it better with hugs and reassuring words!

From the airport it was off to catch a train, easier than it sounds. Fortunately Ally had clear instructions from Mark who let her use his flat over the weekend and the only problem was with the Jubilee line which created absolute havoc. Nonetheless the Robb/ Macaulay clan arrived at their destination all excited about the forthcoming adventure to the Expo which was a stonethrow away from the flat. 

Expo

Ally arrived to collect her number and chip to be asked if she'd already collected her package as there were 2 chip numbers against her name. Ally was a wee bit confused - must've been jet lag! She was told to go away and come back in half an hour, so this allowed for time to shop and meet up with Mike who Ally thought looked every inch a marathon runner, trim, toned, fit and enthusiastic.

Having ran the Berlin Marathon a couple of years ago and attended the Berlin Expo which was absolutely jineourmous, Ally was a bit disappointed with the FLM Expo - it fell short of her expectations! Nonetheless she did buy a pair of pink laces for her running shoes which meant that she'd never need to tie her laces again (more about this later).

The number/chip situation got resolved and Ally was mighty pleased with herself,now she was hungry and went to find something healthy and nutritious - there were many eating places within the building, but the food was not great, nonetheless Ally was hungry enough that she could've eaten a scabby horse!

On route back to flat Ally's other half twisted his ankle on uneven ground - nasty! OH hobbled back to flat and the family chilled out for the night in front of the telly while Ally went through her goody bag and started to prepare her kit for Sunday. Plans made for Saturday to go sight seeing.

Saturday

OH's ankle very bruised, thankfully he's not running the marathon! Off we went to catch a boat to see the sights of London. Ronan only wanted to see Big Ben and indeed he saw BB and photos were taken. Some woman tried to sell Ally heather, funny really as Ally could've taken a bucket load down from Scotland and made a few pennies herself!

It was time for lunch and off the family went to the Rain Forest where they stuffed themselves stupid and then went to see We Will Rock You - the Robb Macaulay clan were rockin in their seats - loved the theme and the music was fab. It Rocked!

It was time for a spot of food shopping for dinner and it was agreed not to divert from the runners normal dietary needs prior to a big run - so it was pasta and the normal trimmings - yummy thought Ally!

Dinner was had, Ally then checked over her running gear and decided that as those pink laces looked so pretty she just had to run with them on Sunday. She wore her Asics with the new laces for a while before bedtime to make sure they were fitted correctly and wouldn't give her any jip on the run - yes another box ticked off. As Ally was going to the startline on her own on Sunday OH gave her instructions on how to get there, detailing the train journey - he was very worried about Ally's ability to not get lost as she doesn't have a map in her head, Ally was very worried too as there was a chance she'd end up in France!! It was time for bed.

Sunday

The sun was shining - this was not the weather expected where was the clouds, wind and rain!

Ally had a great nights sleep - the best in a long while and got up raring to go. She had her usual breakfast of porridge, banana and honey and off she went clutching her bit of paper with her journey instructions - gulp!

No need to worry while waiting at the DLR there were several runners and one was going Ally's way, so she tagged onto him, this was his first ever marathon and hadn't done all the training that was required due to work committments - never mind Ally thought - ignorance is bliss!!!

The train journey was problematic - at the main station taking all the runners to Blackheath the trains were running late. There must've been hundreds upon hundreds of runners all standing on platform 5 when an anouncement was made to go to platform 4 and then another one came across to go to platform 5 and then again it was back to platform 4 and then 5 and then platform 2. The crowd was becoming aggitated as time was ticking by and it looked like the race would start without everyone. Eventually a train arrived and everyone piled into it, Ally has had a fairly sheltered upbringing and never experienced anything like it. People were quite quiet which Ally found strange so started chatting to everyone around her, after all everyone was so very intimately close, how could they not talk to one another and a bit of banter was had by all and people smiled. When the doors opened it was like a piece of elasticsnapped and everyone pinged out onto the platform and headed to the Red and Blue areas. Ally still had her chaperone and was very greatful for this. He even helped her find the toilet, fortunately she was able to do the rest herself!!  Due to the delay Ally never saw the elite women or wheelchair racers go but she went off to find her place along with the other runners.

To be continued - small child wants on the computer!!