Saturday 28th April

A few final words ....

Well it's the night before the big run and although heavily distracted by the Cricket World Cup final, I thought it worth penning a few thoughts. It's 8pm, kids are asleep and I've just prayed once more to the pasta god, filling me with endless supply of effortless energy for the big day! I have eaten sensibly for the past few days (forgiving the curly fries down David Lloyd!), hydrated well and feeling very positive. Haven't really had much sleep though, although this is due to James's sleeping patterns rather than any marathon concerns, but I'm ceratinly no worse or more nervous than before any other race I've tackled over the past couple of years. I've decided on jelly babies + water for the day as a fuelling strategy and the Met Check seems to throw up a warm but cloudy morning, nothing too extreme and probably a lot easier than the guys had last week for the London. I also feel well rested - no running since Wednesday, and just went down to BVH for the AGM on Thursday, with the Chairperson's seat going to Alison by the width of an midge's thigh.

Mentally I'm really up for this - my psyche just dosen't cater for failure and with four months solid training bejind me and a few really appreciated Good Luck's from some Bournville guys, I'm just going to enjoy it - true, after 20 miles every step will be one more than I've taken before in a race situation, but how many times in life do we get the opportunity to surpass a previous event, do achieve a life times first? After climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking the Inca path, completing my first 10km, then 1/2 marathon ... this is just another mouth watering personal challenge. Wonder if I'll feel the same this time tomorrow?

Off to pack and will try not to pin my number to my fingers rather than vest and my final pre-race thought is simply - whatever happens will happen, and I'm guaranteed a Personal Best!