PRE RACE JITTERS

It's no secret that I'm pretty nervous about running the London Marathon. I'm not a fast runner and as a result I'm not that confident when it comes to races. It can be demoralising when everyone around you seems to be taking about 3:30 marathons or under and you know you'll struggle to do it in 4:30. But then again, someone who's expecting 5:30 might want to throttle me. 


Going to the Expo and registration at the Excel centre was a chance to see just a handful of the runners who will be pounding pavements with me on Sunday, but rather than make me unsettled to be in the presence of those more dedicated, hardcore and fit than me, it made me feel more prepared. 


Everywhere there were stands selling things - kit, trainers, massage equipment, massages, energy gels etc. I realised that on the whole I've put myself in the best possible position with my training. My Dad has run quite a few marathons, so I have him to got to for advice. I have a personal trainer (who ran the Brighton marathon last week) and has worked with me for almost 9 months, nagging me about my nutrition, stretching and giving me the tools to look after myself. Because of my personal trainer, new fangled gadgets on sale at the Expo like the Magic Stick, The Grid and the Trigger Point kit are all well known to me already. My trainer also encouraged me to start experimenting with energy gels early on, so I'm all prepared on that front too with a massive stock of Cliff Shot Bloks and Gu gels. And I even have a sports massage every fortnight which has helped look after the increasing stiffness in my legs, which find it difficult to keep any decent equilibrium when I'm running on them at least 4 to 5 times a week. 


I have also tried as best as I could to stick to my schedule - of course I missed some sessions due to work, tiredness or injury, but I altered my habits quite drastically to squeeze the runs in - not drinking, not going out on Saturday nights, running home from work and forgoing socialising etc. I only missed on long run during the whole 14 week training schedule, and that was because I was limping from a tendon problem. 


Perhaps I'm nervous because I know I've prepared. I've done everything I can do. Which just leaves me to accept that on the day, if anything goes wrong, I can't beat myself up about it. But that might be harder to do than training to run this thing. 

Foam Rolling

My legs still feel like lead. I foam rolled last night, and today I think a visit to the gym to foam roll and stretch on the power plate is in order. Then I'm going to test the waters and try for a 10 mile run. Normally I wouldn't even question a 10 mile run, but after my running experience yesterday I'm scared my legs might not comply again. 


I was bemoaning the state of my legs to some of friends yesterday and mentioned that I had to foam roll more. They had never heard of foam rolling, despite being triathletes who will be competing in a half iron man this summer. I think they're going to appreciate these exercises, because as much as I hate them for the pain they cause, they really do work. 

Do You Foam Roll?

Foam rolling is so in right now. Five years ago I can't remember even seeing a foam roller in a gym - now they're everywhere. I am always being told to foam roll every day for about 20 minutes. I manage about 5, or perhaps 10 minutes on sore days. Today I think I'll surpass that easily, because my legs are in pain. 

This is 'the grid' an special evil form of foam roller, the ridging and nodules give different intensity massage to your IT band, hamstrings etc. It's painful, but your legs do feel lighter afterwards. You can buy it from Amazon, although I think I picked up mine from Runner's Need in Holborn. 

It is now 48 hours since my personal training session and my body, well my legs, still feel like they have been hit by a truck. I know my PT sessions challenge me, but sometimes I do feel that they impact on my ability to train - there is no way I could have run yesterday, and I know that 9 miles today (1 mile warm up, 7 miles marathon pace, 1 mile cool down) will be at least twice as tough as normal because of how much my leg muscles hurt.