The build up to the big one!

I'm not going to lie - I really should have written this before Sunday instead of at 2:30am on Monday morning; the past week is a blur (if it weren't for Strava I doubt I could tell you which days I ran on, let alone how far) and I only really want to write about the marathon. Since I'm lying here in bed, shattered but with such achy legs that I can't sleep, I thought I'd write a bit about the week leading up to it and then tomorrow I'll write about the Greater Manchester Marathon.

It was BvH club run on Monday and as there were a few of us with Manchester looming or with tired legs after a combo of Road Relays and Sunday's 10k, a group of us trotted round the 5k route, which is two laps around Rowheath. I ended up running a bit faster than I'd intended but as it was short and I still had six days to go I wasn't too troubled. 

Work was busy and I was glad of a rest day on Tuesday and some time in the evening to do a bit of ironing and catch up at home. Plus it was an early start to drive up to Notts on Wednesday so an early night was in store.

I consciously increased my carbs with the aim of keeping the overall calories about the same but having less protein and fat. It's really hard though as that's against my usual eating plans and I start getting hungry really quickly after a carb-laden meal. Malt loaf lunch-box snacks were a bit of a saviour this week.

I had a little run on the treadmill on Wednesday - the weather in the West Mids was lovely apparently but it was cold and wet a bit further north and I didn't fancy a run outside. I just did three gentle miles, with a wry look at the clock at 2.62 miles!

I was back too late for club on Thursday so I just chilled out and watched a bit of TV, I didn't think it would hurt to miss one run, although I had intended to run on the days I usually would, just doing shorter distances with nothing intense. I was working from home on Friday, and it was nice to not have to drive anywhere so when I finished work I used the time to catch up on paperwork and bills at home. Whilst I was beginning to get a bit anxious I decided not to do anything drastically different to a normal week so when Guy said he just fancied a takeaway curry on Friday night I went along with it. I substituted my usual pea pilau rice and veg stuffed paratha for the plain versions to reduce the fibre content, and ditched the tarka dhal and onion bhaji which can sometimes trigger an upset tummy. Plus it was non-alcoholic beer for me. 

On Saturday I ran a slow parkrun at Cannon Hill. I got a few raised eyebrows from people who knew I was running Manchester but quite honestly I find it helps to loosen the legs the day before a race (and I know this was going to be my longest race, but so was 10k and half-marathon once upon a time!) I really did take it steady and felt better for it. I think that being confident about your decisions and not letting "helpful advice" take you off course is an important lesson (in life as well as running!) Whilst it is good to take on board the experience of others, we are all different and what works for us mentally is often more important than the physical side. The benefit I derive from a few steady miles in the company of friends outweighs any tiredness I might experience physically (in fact it probably helps to deal with some of the nervous energy!)

I ran a few errands and then it was up to Manchester with the Teal Massive! We got to our hotel in Altrincham which is on the marathon course in good time and popped out for a coffee and cake. It was a lovely day and warm in the sunshine, but the forecast for Sunday was cooler and overcast so the conditions were looking favourable. I was starting to feel really hyper but so glad to be there with friends and we sometimes kept our minds off it or shared our thoughts. We had booked dinner at a local Italian restaurant in the evening which was lovely, very busy but the food was good and they had Becks Blue so I was happy to feel quite normal with my pizza and "beer" on a Saturday night. 

Back to the Travelodge at about 9:40 with just time to catch up with the good luck messages and lay out my kit for the next day and the 5:45 alarm. I struggled to switch my brain off and get some decent sleep but probably ended up switching the light off at about 11pm and just waking 2-3 times in the night. 

As I lay in bed I thought about how pleased I was after my previous disappointments, to finally be there, just waiting to begin. I planned what I would think about when it got tough (a mile in honour of my loved ones, some no longer with us. Time to think about what they mean to me and how I want to do them proud). And then, all of a sudden it was time to get up and take on the adventure...