My First Flora London Marathon. by Live_Your_Dream_Life_Today

This morning started off really well. After a long lie in reading more of Paula Radcliffe’s biography, I had my first breakfast - consisting of a glass of champagne on the balcony of my hotel room. I spotted some rowers practicing on the Thames. Not sure if I fancy that - brown water! I then followed this up with my second breakfast – a full English! Talk about feeling stuffed.

After breakfast I went for a look around the gym. As I was in a room of what looked to me like athletes I became very conscious of my freshly filled and bulging belly. The pool is tiny, and with one of the smallest Jacuzzis I’ve ever seen, but the gym area is great. I’ll come in for a work out tomorrow morning - fingers crossed. I plan a 20 minute street run, followed by a workout in the gym, and then I’ll see if I can actually squeeze myself into the Jacuzzi. Of course, all this depends on how late I stay up tonight.

It was then off to Harrods by boat and tube – with the aim of enjoying a nice bottle of red wine and a cheese platter at the Harrods cheese and wine bar. It’s one of my favourite haunts in London and I can sit there for an age just people watching.

The view from the clipper boat was nice as I headed to the Embankment, and the journey was much quicker than yesterday’s tube. I spotted one or two runners running along the banks of the Thames and wished I was them.

When I got off the boat by the Embankment tube station, I stepped right into a protest march – something to do the Tamils. I wasn’t impressed though, as the first thing I saw was someone waiving a big bar of wood around! I got out of there as quick as I could. I don’t know. Maybe he had a perfectly innocent explanation for it – like he was going to build a camp fire later, or he’s a carpenter, or his placard that had been at the end of the wood had fallen off?  

Again I kept seeing adverts for the London Marathon (why, when there are no places left!). I wonder whether more places are given to London runners than to outsiders. Should I apply using my mum’s address?

Sadly one of my favourite haunts in London has vanished – the Harrods cheese and wine bar. Gone! Booo! I had a long wander round Harrods looking at the other restaurants in there (despite it the store being absolutely packed) but none of them took my fancy. In the end I headed back to Selfridges and went into the Wonder Bar. I’ve looked at this before but never been in. You buy a card, put some credit on it, and then can choose from about 20 different wines that are sat in a vending machine. These aren’t cheap plonk either with some of them costing up to £30 a glass!

My wife and I used the waitress service instead, got a bottle of champagne (yes another! Can you tell I like champagne? I’ve become quite adept at finding good champagne at very reasonable prices in the supermarkets. Bars are a completely different matter, and it could become a very expensive habit if it wasn’t just the occasional treat), and the cheese platter we’d been after. It was nice to rest our feet and people watch.

I seem to be suffering some London Marathon torture this weekend. Everywhere I go there is reminders of what will be happening in two weeks time – and that I’m not a part of it. As I stood at the pelican crossing at the Embankment on the way back to the boat, I heard someone behind say that they were training for the London Marathon on part of the London Marathon route. Then the red man turned green and the runner shot past and sprinted off into the distance. Jealous and double jealous.

I bet my weight has shot up this weekend already. It must have gone up judging by the amount I’ve eaten, but I have enjoyed every mouth full of it, especially the Selfridges cup cakes and the champagne which have been my midnight snack the last two nights. In fact I’m sitting in bed munching on cup cake, and drinking champagne as I type. Good eh?  Hopefully I’ll be good and burn some calories off tomorrow morning.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TIP OF THE DAY:

If you’re feeling down, just smile. You instantly and automatically feel better.

D