So, less than 48 hours til the Marathon. The months have flown by and there is nothing more I can do to prepare myself for the big race (well, other than get taped up, get the kit ready and work out how many Jelly Babies I need to eat to get me through……)
The last 4 months training could have gone better. It was not through lack of effort; running in sub-zero temperatures into a head-wind has a certain virtuous appeal. Unfortunately for me, the body let me down when the mind was willing. Illness in February prevented me running for 4 weeks and when I came back and tried to make up for lost time (mistake number 1) a catalogue of injuries have plagued me just when I needed to be stepping up the mileage. I had wanted to get to the start line KNOWING I could run a marathon and it just be a question of what time I could do it in. Sadly, I am now going to held together by tape, going to sleep on Saturday night with my fingers crossed that the aches and pains in my knees, feet and legs, miraculously disappear overnight and that everything will be ‘OK’ on the day.
I am looking forward to being part of such a great event and everyone says how amazing the atmosphere and support are. I have in my mind the markers to get me through – Cutty Sark about a quarter of a way in, Tower Bridge at half way, get through Isle of Dogs and Docklands for the last 6 miles to the Mall. It seems simple laid out like that, but when the furthest I have run so far is 15 miles, another 11 (11.2 actually) miles is not appealing. In a similar context, once I get to twenty miles, there is still going to be 6.2 miles left. Daunting.
Still, I can think about what delights I can stuff my face with once the race is over, and the money I have raised through awesome support from friends and family.
I’ll let you know how it goes!