Well done with that decision Richard
Finishing a Marathon (and training for it) changed me as a runner. And to some extent as a person as well...
LazyJones - If you can't make London, any idea where you will run?
Granty - 5h for you, 3h for me and in a few years maybe 2h for Bekele
And it shouldn't be any easier for any of us.
One thing that the professionals don't have to deal with and we do, is the enormous amount of time needed to finish.
I read a book on marathon training by Richard Nerurkar (it was actually this book that made me decide to run my first one when I did. It would be great if you could read it and it has good training plans too) in which he mentioned training "psychologicaly".
He would go on very long runs, slow, easy ones, just to be on the road that long and get used to it.
Aiming for a time just under 5 hours you will be a long time out there.
And even though your body may be well trained you have to make sure that your mind is prepared to endure such a long time on the run.
Especially in the last few miles when the body wants to take control and stop you from doing that silly thing - running 26.2 miles
My advice would be to get at least 3 or 4 long runs - over 3 hours. VERY EASY!!!! but still, being out there.
Apart from that, regular, long mileage weeks and a few fartleks where you will be running faster than your goal speed.
Let me know how you get on.