4 April: 2 days left

We're so excited, we might just burst!!

Tomorrow we're off on the Eurostar to Paris. The supplies are in place and the arrangements sorted and all we have to do now is give it our best shot. We've had incredible support from everyone to get us this far - you know who you are, so thank you!

Diary is going to keep it brief this week as he has to go and pack. You won't believe what we have to take. Giles has gone all Lucy List on us and what he came up with is revealing of both what it takes to be an Iron Man and Giles' long held contention that the rest of us are gormless idiots:

1. Passport and eurostar ticket;
2. Paris marathon registration form;
3. Copy of medical certificate;
4. Trainers;
5. Corset running top x 2;
6. Cycling tops x 2;
7. Cycling bib x 2;
8. Cycling shoes;
9. Craghopper relaxation trousers, soft shell (this is a type of jacket, not a crab) and cycling jacket;
10. Inner tubes x 3;
11. Cycling maps;
12. Cycling gloves and helmet (although the bicycle didn't make it on to the list so he can't think we're that stupid);
13. Sunglasses;
14. Playing cards and poker chips;
15. Water bottles;
16. 196 carb gels, 144 power bars, 10.8 kg of carb drink powder, 3.2 kg of protein recovery drink powder (we need more) and 3.2 kg of electrolyte drink powder (we're not sure what this is for);
17. Laptop;
18. Camera;
19. Vaseline;
20. Imodium (this is all too horrible...);
21. Ibuprofen, potassium and magnesium tablets, multi-vitamins, anabolic steroids (only joking...);
22. First aid kit;
23. Anti-inflammatory drugs and tape and ice pack;
24. Bike tools;
25. Bike pump;
26. Ipod;
27. Compression tops (no-one has the foggiest....);
28. Deep heat and whatever Pat puts on his legs that makes him go so fast;
29. Nappy rash cream (don't ask...);
30. Organic chocolate x 24 (this is just for John P);
31. Organic peanut butter x 6 (see above);
32. Emu x 2 and/or oil refined from a sophistcated Emu (see last week's Diary);
33. Bucket of Will McDonald's urine (ditto);
34. Neil and Roberto - Neil is going to drive Roberto on to each hotel in advance to give him time to "set up" in readiness for pummelling our ITBs and glutei maximi and running the ice baths. God help us...
35. Underpants x 4 per person plus one spare each to be worn in the event of an accident. Giles has actually told us how many pairs of pants we have to take!!
36. Talcum powder. Essentially this does the same job as the vaseline and the nappy rash cream and it may be that 4 pairs of pants per person is not going to be enough if mixing all those chemicals up in them causes any of them to dissolve or explode;
37. Blackberry and replacement blackberry;
38. A good book;
39. A good mood - seriously, he put that on the list!

Giles is also bringing a clipboard, a whistle and a peaked cap for the daily 5.00 am checklist run through. This is not going to help with item 39.

If you think comedy legend Frank Skinner looks worried in the photo below, he has good reason. The poor man has just been stalked by John P during the half time break at the Royal Opera House. John P had also been kind enough to throw Mr Skinner's jacket on the floor as the Fantasy Football star donned the 2CC crab jacket for the photo opportunity. This was on Wednesday - the evening of the Arsenal v Liverpool Champions League game. What were they thinking of? Carmen, actually, which John P said was " packed with good tunes but not as good as the original English version". This is apparently an opera "joke".

In fact, this week has been all about John P, which is as he thinks it always should be. He has his own fan club!!!

Rosalind Connor has been an organisational brick doing all the jobs that no-one else wanted to do such as buying the nappy cream and obtaining the 2CC Cheap Tin Badges, for which Seb in particular has been so grateful. After all this hard work, the Badge Lady needs to relax and likes to do so at her local Women's Institute Knitting Group. This week she was showing the girls - well, ladies of a certain age - the website and they came over all peculiar at the old warhorse's cake photo, convinced that he is a spit for Tom Hanks or, more specifically, Forrest Gump. Its that erect running style...

Must go now, but keep an eye on the website every day next week for regular updates on the gruesome details.

And remember the Auction on April 16. We have excellent stuff on offer and at prices to suit every pocket. Sienna Miller has ponied up with a beautiful Anya Hindmarch bag that is big enough to carry most of the stuff on Giles' list and how else are you going to get the chance to take all your friends to the seaside on a red double decker bus or sign up for 10 boxing lessons?

Think of this not as goodbye - just au revoir.