Final 20 thoughts

Easter Sunday saw me do my last long training run for my first marathon.  I've said all I can say about this already, I think, and actually have enough confidence now to be able to say I don't think it's going to be much of a problem getting around 26.2.  Still, one must'n't get over-confident.  I'm still going to have to take care.

Some more useful advice has been rolling in from my running club.  Sometimes it's about little things you wouldn't think of, like bin liners, having a couple of those handy on the run; or eating carbs (pasta) for three dinners before the race.  These are really useful bits of information.  I'm writing them down in a list, alongside the obvious ones, like bringing a gel or two, a snack, and band-aids/plasters.

I don't think I'll be all that tempted to stop and walk, but you never know.  We'll see how things are going at 20 on the race day.  My current training pace will give me a good couple of hours to get around that final 10km.  Which is a good margin to work with for a first marathon, I think.

After all, it will be a PB distance no matter what!

But if I do walk a bit, at the end or whenever, it should be ok, because at the end of this last 20-miler I wasn't limping or really all that sore, just stiff. 

I think this is exactly where all the training, stretching, and resting have really paid off.  Yes, I'm sore, but I don't have to run until tonight (after a day's break, all stretching and strength), and I'm tapering down to three weeks from now, a process I think I'm really going to enjoy!

And I get to run again tonight: just a really nice 7-miler in Savill Garden.