running – Lets live to one thousand

The hours until my first marathon of the year are whisking away rapidly. I am still busy with prepping the final arrangements for the big day, so I definitely do not feel ready but I wonder if you will ever feel ready until you have actually completed the entire race.

I will have to wait and see…

Last night I visited a physio therapist for some pain in my neck, it is definitely better today but not a 100%. I will see him again tomorrow, I really hope that he can help me to sort it out then!

I am also loading up on beetroot juice, apparently it oxygenates the blood or something, well whatever it does, I am sure it won’t hurt except for the anxiousness when my pee is red and it takes a few seconds to remember the beetroot juice.

I also ordered some goodies today, a bluetooth headset and a running belt. Apparently a really good running belt, or so I would hope as it cost me 30 Euros! I have never ran with a running belt but I will need something for this race as I will be taking a few gels with.

I won’t make the mistake of running without them again… It was really tough the last marathon that I did, I could feel my body needing some nourishment, some sugar and just some pure energy…

Well this time I will provide it.

Sleep is also another preparation and I must make sure to get enough of it, so cheers for now!

About nine months ago, I ran my first gruelling marathon in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, one could not ask for a more relaxed marathon as the Netherlands is notoriously flat.

It is so flat that after 150 kilometres of running in Amsterdam the elevation gain was a mere 150 meters where a lesser distance of 125 kilometres in Cape Town amounted to almost 30o0 meters in elevation gain.

Regardless of the marathon taking place in such a flat country, it was still a very tough race.

After the race, I actually told myself that I will never run another marathon in my life and lo and behold, the next one is less than a week away. It is another marathon in the Netherlands, so luckily I have no hills to worry about but I still cannot help feeling slightly tensed at the prospect of taking on 42.2 kilometres again.

I do feel fit and ready for it, as I think that my condition may be the best that I have ever been as I have now been consistently running for the better part of three months.

I am totally ready? Well I am not sure if one can ever be totally ready for a marathon, to a certain degree, one needs to take it as it comes and be mentally ready for those last couple of kilometres.

It is the mind that will get you over the finish line.

Regardless, I have still spent a good time training and for the week leading up to the marathon, I plan on completing a few brisk runs just to stay warm.

Tag: running

Marathon preparations…

First marathon of the year coming up