Race prep: Relax, TV, munch, cuppa

Slobbing out and watching TV before tomorrow's Grand Union Canal Race and 145 miles of canal, running, walking, sleeplessness, food and exclamations of, 'Why am I doing this (again)?'

I can't wait. It's a big adventure. And yet, I hate the start. It means hauling myself out of bed at about 4am-something and triple checking that I  have everything and anything that I might need and knowing where I have put it and in which bag.

I have to remember: it doesn't always matter how your body feels, it matters how your mind feels. I never feel too amazing at the start because I always feel sleepy. Last year I felt really achy at the 50ish mile mark. Yet, I was pretty pleased with last year's time of 38 hrs 25 mins. This year I am GOING TO beat this.

Last Sunday, 17th May, I completed Windermere Marathon in 4.25.51 - this time was only 1 minute slower than last year. I'm pretty pleased with this, because the wheels actually came off at around 18 miles. I felt 'floppy' and pretty low on energy.  I walked a lot and a bird even pooped on my head. I wasn't giving it my all and I hadn't intended to, with GUCR being less than a week later. However, I was pleased with my early speed. If I can get some good speedy miles under my belt in the daylight and keep that forward progress ticking over during the night section and not take too many long Check Point breaks, then it should all be good.

The medal 

I have decided to run with my OMM waist-pack during the first half of the race. It breaks it up a bit and means that I won't feel as achy or restricted, which I sometimes tend to feel like if I have a running rucksack on my back for too long. So, I'll start off with a few essentials; snacks, gels, waterproof around waist, bottle in hand. I will leave my other important stuff and 'night section rucksack', packed with head torch etc. in my drop-bag.

One thing I wish I could have done successfully in preparation for this weekend is to have restricted caffeine, but I just didn't. I tried a little and even though I didn't majorly overdo the caffeine, I didn't cut it out completely. I will use tried and tested methods to keep myself awake during the night section. These methods include music, singing, full-fat coke and slapping myself in the face.

Again, if anyone would like to donate, I am raising money for Claire House Children's Hospice @www.justgiving.com/canalultra 

Fundraising

So, I created a little word cloud for my upcoming Grand Union Canal Race: Round 4, The Return (thought I'd make it sound like a movie title there ;-) )

As you can see, the word cloud is pretty tiny. I guess the main points are: 45 hour time limit. Aiming for Sub-38hrs. 4th consecutive year I have run this race. I don't have a crew.  I'm running Windermere Marathon the week before. Most importantly, I am raising money for a local charity: Claire House Children's Hospice. My sponsor page is: Justgiving.com/canalultra

5 more years of rain

Just been out for a quick run on a rather miserable and rainy day. Pretty soaked. Perhaps a metaphor for how the next few years will be under a majority Tory government. Yep, I like the odd run in the rain and I like the freedom and democracy of it all, but I don't really want to be constantly soaked and rain-lashed all of the time.

Anyway, there are a billion things I could rant about... (a few are listed below). But, at the end of the day, at least I got to cast my vote (Hint, I didn't vote Conservative). What makes me really mad is when people don't use their vote at all and use an excuse like, 'Well, my vote won't make a difference anyway, so why bother?' If everyone thought that way and everyone did this, then of course, the answer is obvious. Eventually, every vote matters.

At the end of the day, I'm not rich and I'm only getting poorer. I don't have enough money to be able to save and I'm one of those graduates who has never earned more than minimum wage and is over-qualified to ever have been considered for any help or an apprenticeship. So, the Tories do nothing for me. At least I've run a lot of marathons, eh? David Cameron can only run a mile...