unironedman

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

Emma Lazarus
The New Colossus

Well, this hopefully won’t be my last post, but it most probably will be the last one before the marathon on Sunday morning. There’s not a lot to report in terms of training this week, thanks to the taper. I did get a short run in on Monday, and despite the slightest twinge in the left hamstring area (yes, that’s a little vague, but if you want to train as a physio, this is not the place to start your research) I then went out on Tuesday to see if it would stand up to a little speed work, and thankfully it did.

I suspect fretting before a big race, coupled with phantom niggles is pretty standard for most runners. About 5k done for this little exercise, then I skipped Wednesday (as in, I gave it a miss; I didn’t actually skip, you understand…). So yesterday, being Thursday, I joined Mark for the last run in the park, and we clocked up an easy 7.5k in about 45 minutes. The evenings have well and truly set in. From now, I guess runs will be either in the morning or at lunch time, or at the weekend, or with a head torch. Not that any of those are a problem. I’ll just miss the sunny evenings.

So now it’s Friday, and two sleeps to Marathon Day. Just having a quick look at the stats on Garmin Connect, and October is coming in the same for overall distance as July, when we started the programme. Peak month was September with over 347k though I know there are a couple of sessions in there on the treadmill that are missing from the stats. But it’s an interesting read, and the most mileage I have clocked up in a marathon training programme. By lunchtime on Sunday, I will know if that has paid off.

Before all of that, there will be gear to be taken out and checked, then packed away, then re-checked. Rinse and repeat…

And there will be the expo tomorrow, of course. The trick is to get in, get your number, and get out. Try not to get distracted by all the shiny items for sale. Must. Not. Get. Distracted…

Anyway, here are some pictures of the Royal Canal near Leixlip from earlier today, when we had the first misty Autumnal start of the year. Click to enlarge, as usual.

So, welcome to Dublin, all you intrepid marathoners. It’s a nice city, and always gives the runners a shout on the way around. The weather is shaping up to be about perfect, so roll on Sunday. Just remember to turn your clocks back on hour before you hit the hay on Saturday night. Though at least you won’t miss the start if you forget; you’ll just be nice and early!