Final week is on track

All day I've been under a cloud of depression. People have been asking if I'm excited or worried and, to be honest, I have no feelings about the marathon at all.

I've just got home from a long tube journey without my usual run home from London Bridge to break up the monotony.  Marathon or not, running home is the way forward.  There's only so much stink, sweat and sullen faces you can take in rush hour. I finished off The Guardian from this morning, read both London free papers, and scouted around to see what other people were reading as I had left my Ipod to charge at home - girl opposite, The Kite Runner; bloke next to me, Alastair Campbell's Diaries; and a bloke standing up was engrossed in Heat.

The two freebies both had marathon tips in them.  They were talking about tapering and what the week should entail.  One said you should have a marathon plan and stick to it.  Now,  I've had a plan which has been steadily developing since January.  Although, sticking to it will be the difficult part.

Here it is:

Mile 1. Start off slowly and run a 10:30 mile.

Mile 2-5.  Run 10 minute miles.

Mile 6- 18.  Get into a rhythm that will enable a 9:30 pace but with 30 seconds of walking at each mile marker to take in water and PowerBar gels.

Mile 18- 26. Sprint finish.  Well, er, no, not really,  but no particular planned stops just run as far as I can with as few walking breaks as my withering, failing body will allow.

Mile 26 - 26.2(Finish).  One last push.

Now, Unlike the rest of the day, I'm getting a little psyched for Sunday.

Tapering

Just in case you've clicked on this for a bit of insight, or you're a mate wondering what I'm going on about by the word tapering, here are a few links to explain. But it's mainly about recovering from the excess training before the marathon.

Here are the links:

From Marathontraining.com

The BBC website

Runner's World

and another Runner's World one focussing on what you shouldn't do.

A big fat lie

Yesterday I lied.  At the end of my blog I said I was going to go out for a 10 mile run. I didn't.  

I was out for around an hour running and walking and plodding and working myself into a frenzy for just shy of 6 miles.  I started out with the sun in my eyes, then when I found shade it would often blindingly let the sun back onto my eyes, then I was hit with inertia and started to worry about the world, his brother and his work, and then I was passed by several other runners.

All in all it wasn't a happy time and it made me a grumpy old moody grump for the rest of the day.

I've now put it down to experience and forgetting about it.  Note I've not quite forgotten yet. But I got an email from a fellow Barnardo's runner last night answering a few of my tapering worries and after I received that the world seemed a brighter day.  He's tapering with only a few short steady runs and eating lots of carbs.  He didn't do anything like 10 miles this weekend and will only be doing a 4 miler mid week.  So I'm only doing 3.

Things go up and down very quickly with my marathon moods.

I'm not sure if this week is going to be the longest or shortest ever. Probably a bit of both.