I’M STRESSED!

No-one would ever accuse me of over training - but I have taken this to a whole new level.

I have not run a long run for a month, I have not run at all for 3 week - that means nothing, zip, nadda. I did do the long hike (45 km) on 24th of September but that is not running. I always have anxiety before a marathon (well at least the 2 I have done), but this time it’s a bit different.

So here is the goal for the Redwoods Marathon:

1. aim for a slower pace 3:50 - 4 hours
2. take lots of Advil - I took 7 during Victoria so let’s make that the floor
3. mentally prepare for quite a lot of pain
4. put lots of angry music on the iPod shuffle - I’ll need it for the last 21 km

My meetings in London went really well so that was nice. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the city of London this time, I don’t know why but for a city that I usually hate and avoid like the plague I managed to enjoy myself - part of it may have been that I had a comfortable hotel room - and part of it may have been living in New York city. London doesn’t even come close to NYC for intensity or boldness, but it is a stunning city that I finally managed to appreciate.

Had my wonderful sister and her fiance in town for the weekend. Three days is not enough time in NYC, and you really need a comfortable pair of walking shoes else you end up with really sort feet… just ask her . It was awesome to spend some focused time with them trotting around the city - they were great guests as well as it was monsoon like rain on Saturday and we just put our shells on and still spent 4 or 5 hours walking the city and central park. I’m fairly certain most folks might not have been prepared to get that wet.

The happy couple:

Oh well, back to being stressed (I might try to get out for a little 15 k mental booster run.. but I fear that if it goes poorly then I will only get more stressed). I will run the marathon and if I need to cross the finish-line using my teeth to make forward progress I will, I promise.