On Thursday night I developed a bad sore throat, which got worse yesterday (Friday), although I went into work as usual. Last night I was confident that I would be sending my marathon number back today and deferring my place for a year - not just because I'm in the middle of a cold, but also because yet again I had small twinges from my left knee too.

To help my knee I've been avoiding going up and down stairs, doing some alternate icing and warming of my knee cap, and on Thursday evening ultrasound was applied to my left knee. In training my knee has never let me down although I have definately had feelings in it that came and went, so I hope that the worry about my knee is more psychological rather than physical. I'm not sure.

I woke up this morning with the sore throat, running nose and I'm occasionally sneezing. However, after being up for an hour, I feel much better. I went for a mile jog (probably very inadvisable the day before a marathon!) to give me some confidence. It's a nice day here today, and I found the run okay, although there was a feeling from my left knee which I didn't like.

Assuming I feel better in myself tomorrow morning, which I probably will do, then I think I'll go for it. I don't have an awful lot to loose, and I'm fairly confident of getting to the end as long as my knees or hip don't get to the point where I can't continue.

If I do decide to back out of the marathon tomorrow morning, then I'm informed that I can put my number in the post down at the post box at Safeway in Reigate, and it'll be franked tomorrow, so it should be okay for deferring my entry. (The number must be sent back with a postal date on or before 13th of April to be able to get a deferred entry for 2004.)

Right now I'm more confident than I was yesterday, and I also feel a lot better in myself than yesterday. Fingers crossed!

A big thank you for reading this far and considering to sponsor me.