Countdown

It's almost time. Tomorrow I'll take the coach to Cork, get my race number, and after a hopefully good night's sleep I'll be on the starting line for the Cork marathon. I'm reasonably confident I'll be able to beat 3:10 this time, but I'm fully aware that I said the same before Loch Ness. I hope to avoid the one big mistake I made there, namely starting too fast. I thought for a while if I should wear the Garmin or not, and came out on the yes side. I will try and run by feel rather than by whatever a technical gadget, no matter how smart, dictates; but all the same, I think it will be reassuring to get some feedback. I've learned one lesson in Bantry though, namely that the official mile markers might deviate from the Garmin's, and it's the official ones that count, so don't rely on the toy's numbers.

I've got a few aches, niggles and worries, but nothing that will be a major problem on Monday. Right after Connemara my left hamstrings started to hurt with each run, and I dealt with it the way I always deal with that: I ignore it until it goes away, and about 2 weeks ago it did. Then my left heel (or rather the sole of the left foot towards the heel) started hurting, and I dealt with it the same way. Actually I did ice it once or twice, but that caused only temporary relief, and the pain always came back. This has cleared up recently; maybe because I avoided wearing my racing shoes (I did the speed workouts in normal trainers), and maybe because I finally chucked my oldest pair of runners after 621 miles, which is longer than I usually keep them. Whatever the cause, it's better now, and it won't be an issue on Monday either.

I'm a bit worried if my endurance will stretch for the entire distance. I know, I know, I ran 39 miles just 8 weeks ago, but there's the problem. 8 weeks is enough to lose some endurance, and I only managed one 20 miler since then, which is not a lot for a mileage junkie like myself. I guess I'll find out if that was sufficient or not.

The weather might turn out a bit hotter than I'd prefer, but the meteorologists are basically still unsure. Today it's mostly sunny, tomorrow will be the same, and Monday may or may not be more cloudy. Michael pointed out that someone in Ireland shouldn't worry much about the weather, and he's basically right. However, if you're used to running in 13C/55F, then 22C/72F resembles a heat wave. However, they've got 13 water stations on the road, which should be sufficient for any kind of weather.

My race number is 347. I'll let you know.

29 May

5 miles, 43:20, 8:40 pace, HR 136

30 May

4 miles, 30:22, 7:35 pace, HR 151
middle miles in 7:01, 7:07 (a bit too quick)

31 May

0 (I'm tapering, you know)