Definitely Maybe

My self-imposed deadline of 72 hours before race start has expired, and am I feeling better and ready to run on Sunday? Err, probably. I’m definitely feeling better, the headache is gone, the coughing has mostly disappeared and the general feeling is much better. I did break my long period of non-activity last night to attend my usual Yoga class. We did a lot of standing asanas, and about half an hour into the class I started to feel dizzy, then the breathing when hay-wire, and when I started to see black spots in front of my eyes, I knew I was about 5 seconds away from fainting. I stopped whatever I was doing, drank a sip of water, calmed my breathing an immediately felt better. I was fine for the rest of the class.

Today I feel a distinct lack of energy, and I’m tired as hell, despite sleeping ok(ish) last night. Thanks a lot for all your well wishes and prayers, they are all gratefully received. We are definitely going to leave for Galway tomorrow, no matter if I feel ready for the marathon or not. I’ll take it easy on Saturday, and if I feel up to it on Sunday, I will run the marathon. But, to be honest, I’m pretty sure I will. Yvonne’s tale of how crap she felt before Chicago and then ran 3:30:15, is encouraging, and I found one story on RW where a guy ran a marathon with 101-degree fever (yes, he got seriously sick. But hey, he ran the whole thing). I haven’t got a temperature, so should be ok from a doctor’s point of view.

Today I’m stuffing myself with carbohydrates, both to counteract the lack of energy I’m experiencing, and to try and do some carbo-loading. I’m not very picky. So far I’ve had jam on toast (twice), some grapes, wheat cereal, a big lunch (including a scone packed with jam), an energy bar, a banana, and I’m about to attack another energy bar. And it’s only 3 o’clock. Plus plenty of sports drink. I don’t think a lack of carbs will be my problem.

I haven’t run a single step since last Friday. I hope that won’t affect my fitness.

The route in Connemara is full of hills. One guy in the forum reckons they add 10-20 minutes to your time. That seems a bit much, but judging from the profile, I would regard any time less than 4 hours as an achievement. I’ll try and shoot for something more ambitious, as long as I feel well enough. The first 9.5 miles are gradually uphill, then there’s a big downhill, a big climb, another down section, a few small ups and downs until mile 22 and then there’s the Hell of the West, more than 1.5 mile of climbing towards the highest point of the course. From then on you can roll towards the finishing line. I’ve run plenty of hills, but never on mile 23. I’ll let you know how it went.