I know this is strictly against the remit of the Life On Two Wheels blog, but it's the London Marathon on Sunday and I'm taking part, hopefully raising as much money as I can for Guide Dogs.

In fact, it's not strictly off-topic as cycling has played a big part in my training. All those hours spent on the saddle have given me a pretty good base level of fitness.

But cycling a couple of miles to Watford town centre from Watford Observer HQ is not sufficient marathon training and I'm sure that like all of my fellow London Marathon competitors from the local area (see some of their stories here) I have got to know the roads and paths around south west Herts very well since the beginning of this year.

Training is hard work but often raising money for one's chosen charity is even harder. I can be sponsored via Justgiving by clicking here so please give generously as Guide Dogs is a fantastic cause.