Four Days to go!

This time next week it'll all be over! The long weekend runs are all done, I've said farewell to my club for 3 weeks (this week is a taper and I'm taking 2 weeks off of running after the marathon) and my bag is almost packed. I've booked a hotel and marathon bus tickets and looking forward to a weekend by the sea. I now only have two runs remaining and one of those is just 10 minutes.

I blame the camera, rather than my speed for this blurry shot!

Going for Gold
So, what have I been up to these past few weeks? I'll admit there's not been much of great interest - just a lot of miles, not a single sports massage and very little stretching (oh naughty, naughty me...), but in a way 'uneventful' is good, I'm not going to complain! A couple of weeks ago I ran a track race for the first time at our club 5000M Championships, walking away with a new PB (23:23) and a gold medal in my category...although regrettably I'll miss the presentation evening to collect my medal as it's the night before my marathon and I'll be doing my best to relax by the sea! I found 12.5 laps of the track really monotonous, but appreciated complete flatness - my usual 5K is parkrun St Albans, which has a little climb before the final straight.

Choose your Battles Wisely
I was supposed to run Women's Running 10K in London a few weeks ago, but my cat, Sassy, was taken ill the evening before the race. Thanks to worrying about said cat (who had eventually fallen asleep halfway up the stairs because she felt too unwell to travel up or down any further) and a loud and lengthy domestic next door at around midnight I had a sleepless night. I decided I just wasn't 'up to' travelling to London by myself and racing - I was on a very short fuse, quite tired and not feeling at all sociable. I'm really annoyed that I missed it as it was a race I was looking forward to and had booked a long way in advance, but I think I made the right decision. (That afternoon Sassy wasn't improving so we took her to the vet and she was hospitalised on a drip for four days, I'm pleased to say she's back to her old self now).

Race Plan
My plan for Sunday is to run by feel, not my Garmin. So, I'm taking the first half at warm-up pace ('easy' pace), running the next quarter a little bit faster ('steady' pace) and seeing what I have left for the final quarter. I'll be wearing my Garmin but it'll be there as more of a 'how am I doing?' tool than dictating my pace. During my recent longer runs I've found that walking for the 30-60 seconds it takes to take my gels gives me a chance to re-set my posture and shake my arms and legs out, so I'll be sticking with that plan for the marathon. I'm aiming for 4:30-4:45 and my number one goal is to run the whole way, not take a sickly 8.7 mile walk at the end!

Wish me luck, I'll see you all on the other side!