Pre-Marathon Blog

It's the day before the St Magnus Marathon. So what am I blogging for? Well, Peter is downstairs cooking the tea and I am sitting upstairs in the Firth's house, with my pre-marathon legs up and I might as well blog. I haven't been back to Orkney for probably 13 years, so I thought it might feel like going back in time, but in fact it feels like now, the same as it always did.

"We're desperate to hear how your training has gone."

Oh really? Well actually it went okay for a while and then about a month ago I started to stall out. Slower times, everything was more of an effort, my muscles were permanently sore and I could hardly walk in the morning, so I've been on quite an extreme taper. Realising that this has happened before I thought my only hope was to cut back pretty drastically. I don't know if it will have worked or not. My legs have been a bit springier this week. I've done a couple of 5 milers back from a course I was attending up at the Royal Infirmary, and we went round the west shore of Stromness and then round the loons for another 5 and a half today.

We drank quite a lot of wine last night too. Maybe that will help. Not. I had a bad head this morning and looking at the horrible burst sofa effect of my luggage with things pulled out at random made me feel worse. How was I going to negotiate my way around a friend's house and manage to find breakfast, let alone run a marathon?

I didn't dwell on it, because it never helps to - and as soon as we got out a run I started to perk up. Well, as soon as I'd had two big cups of coffee and the ibuprofen and paracetamol full quotient of over-the-counter pain relief and then another snooze and a lot of water...after that..when we got out a run I perked up.

A man with an English accent called out " are you doing the marathon tomorrow then?" So we told him we were. We bumped into him again at the end of our run so we stopped and spoke. He said he was from just North of London and he'd had achilles problems. I just held back from the standard Scottish response "Getting your excuses in early are you?" because he might have taken it as hostility. Then he told us he liked to "tick off all the counties" and that's why he was here.

I think my pre-race analysis is that I'm pretty much a wreck. My stomach's been dodgy for two weeks and my feet and ankles aren't so sore - but they are sore. And I struggle with the stairs in the morning...apart from that we're pretty much good to go!