It's late and my maths isn't great at the best of times but I make it that the countdown to race day number one now stands at T - 58 hours! The last three weeks have been a bit of a mixture of tough training and recovery, culminating in a final 21 miler last weekend. Like any good professional athlete (don't laugh!) the last big run is an opportunity to simulate race day conditions, making sure that everything is fully prepared ahead of the big day. For me this meant trying on the vest that I'd be wearing on the day, and...well...that was pretty much it to be honest. It did prove to be a successful endeavour however as I quickly learnt that it is 1) rather skimpy and 2) a bit of a nipple chomper! When I got home and took my vest off I got a bit of a shock. There was a large blister on the top of my left nipple. Thankfully on closer inspection it turned out to just be some vas that I hadn't rubbed in properly pre-race but the fright was sufficient for me to find a more effective safeguard this week. Runners Needs in Canary Wharf were able to oblige with a product aptly named "Nipguards". Only in long distance running!
Me in my LCD vest
What a nipple chomping vest is capable of
How I intend to counter the nipple chomping
So with the training all but complete I'm feeling pretty confident. Let's see how long that lasts! I've run several marathons over the last couple of years but this is the first time I've really trained properly, let's hope that it actually makes a difference! To give you an idea of how seriously I'm taking things this year I haven't consumed an alcoholic beverage in 10 days! 10 DAYS!!!!! As the beer pangs have really started biting in the last few days I've been devoting significant time to developing a strategy to build a weekly drinking session into my schedule. The outcome of these long and thought provoking sessions has been that I need to hit the beer and hit it hard as soon as possible after the marathon to allow maximum recovery time for the next marathon so roll on 3pm Sunday! I read somewhere that a non-alcoholic beer or two after a marathon helps with re-hydration and we all know that alcoholic beer is a million times better than non-alcoholic, therefore it must also be a million times better at rehydrating. FACT! Simple maths really! Can't argue with science can you!
A man with a plan. If you're going to stop during the marathon it might as well be for a beer!
The last few long runs have helped me develop my race day strategy. Any good runner will aim to run the second half of a marathon faster than the first half. I am NOT a good runner! I have NO ability to pace myself! I am NOT built for running (I'm deceptively dense!).I am NOT going to be able to run the second half of the marathon quicker than the first! However, I DO enjoy a bit of hot tottie in Lycra so the plan is to find an attractive girl to lead me round the course in record time. Yet another stroke of genius I'm sure you'll agree.
Ahhhh....spandex, how I love you!
Thank you yet again to everyone for all of their kind support over the last 14 weeks. The fundraising grand total now stands at an amazing
£3,666.25. Your generosity is hugely appreciated both by myself and the charity and you really are helping change peoples lives!
.JPG)
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