The technical term is 'taper'; where you drastically reduce the amount of training mileage, conserving energy and letting your body recover from all the little aches, pains and blisters that have amassed through weeks and weeks of intensive training and tarmac pounding (is this me talking? I think it is......intensive training??......let me check......yep, it is still me talking......). Strictly speaking I should have started it a couple of weeks ago, but I opted for adding a few miles onto the training; it's made me more confident of making the trip.
Speaking of confidence; nineteen miles!! That's a real nineteen; not an 'oops, I took a wrong turn somewhere and it wasn't really nineteen' nineteen. Coupling this with the fact that much of today's run was up and down the hills of Lancashire - giving me great hope that for a flatter surface like.....oooh....just to pick a place out at random.....LONDON - this will stand me in good stead. It's also encouraging that I wasn't trying to attract the attention of any passing ambulances to follow me in case of collapse. I mean, I'm not saying I would want - directly following the run - to have a standing still contest with the world champion; but I could nevertheless still stand, still walk - after a fashion - and still talk; even if it was to say 'I need a lie down'!
Essentially, that's it; next stop marathon. A few ickle runs of five miles the odd evening over the next fortnight, but other than that it's the final push for sponsorship, and trying to get as much rest as possible; good nights sleeps, good eating with nothing out of the ordinary passing my lips. If I can tick all of these boxes I will be a finely honed running machine; not to mention being the fittest I have ever been in my life. Actually, scratch that; I am already the fittest I have ever been in my life. It's taken me nigh on forty years, but a nice feeling once I got there.
Not bad for a nineteen plus stone lump with delusions of grandeur eh?
I'm still in the denial 'oh that run thing is a loooong way off yet; so long it is not really real' stage at the moment, and I suspect with a busy work life, and a busy life in general I will be able to maintain this sense of blissful ignorance for some time (here's hoping anyway!). I am not too sure what will happen when reality finally does hit. I was about to say 'crashing down' but that makes it sound far too negative; and whatever happens it will be all good. The options are....
- surge of excitement and a nervous, excited, collywobble type feeling in my tummy
- crying
- taking it in my stride and nothing changes
- spontaneous combustion so that all remains is a pair of feet stuck inside two Asics running shoes
- all of the above
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