The Friday Before!

It's the Friday before Sunday's Brighton Marathon.

My nerves are growing!

Thanks to everyone who's sponsored me. Friends family and colleges, you're all wonderful. 

I've exceeded my target of £500 but you can check out the latest amount at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alastairsadler While you're there you can donate too :)

Fliss and I travel to Hove tomorrow after picking up the race pack in Brighton. Hopefully we'll get a chance to pop into my cousin Maia's second birthday party as it will be the first time I've seen her in person.

We've an Italian restaurant booked for an early evening carb-alitious meal. I'll probably have a carb-onara, or a Kcal-zone!

I've been taking it easy and carb loading all week!  It's the first part of this adventure I've felt really qualified for :) To be honest I feel a little bloated all over but that'll be gone by Sunday evening. The idea of carb loading is to store up energy and water in the muscles before the marathon.  I must be more muscly than I thought!

It feels weird stuffing before the race. It's like we're celebrating too soon. Then a whole load of superstitions kick in combined with tropes like "pride before a fall".

I went for a little three mile jog this morning to maintain the muscle tone. I was nervous for the first two miles and kept thinking "If I trip over now...." I didn't but it shows how anxiety about one thing attaches itself to anything and everything around. 

There are genuine concerns. Will I be the one who drops dead? Will I injure myself and be unable to teach? Will it just be too much?


Not many of the runners will have had a stress test echo cardiogram two months before the run. I did and it's all OK. In fact I maxed out the exercise bike! 

This is not a spontaneous overactivity. I started jogging in 2005 when I gave up smoking. I slowly built up to the distance and did the 26.2 miles two years ago in preparation for the 2020 marathon. 

By the way if anyone asks me my marathon time I'll say I did it in under two years and six hours. 

Most importantly I've now far more emotionally aware of my needs and processes which means if I need to stop I will. It'll be a shame, but I'll feel no shame. I'll have done my best and that's good enough for me.

 

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