Counting Down

I'm in a situation I've never really been in before. Proper, serious taper.

It's less than two weeks until the 100 and I am having to suppress all the fibres in me screaming to go out and run the trails for a few hours. I'm not twitchy or bad-tempered with it, rather at a loss as to what to do with myself. It's an odd feeling.

Using my UTMB run-soigneur experience I'm trying to do all the things Steve was doing- resting, eating well, getting more sleep, being prepared now so there's no last minute stress. It's not easy though. After a couple of weeks sleeping much better I'm back to struggling to get off to sleep and then waking very early. Because of work there's no chance of not setting an alarm in the morning, and the next two weeks are of the course the weeks when there's loads of after school stuff happening with my children so not even the evenings are going to be relaxing. I find myself wishing I could go away and stay in a quiet apartment and live in a little running bubble like we did in Chamonix. It was lovely even though for me also stressful, and coming back to the 'real' world has been jarring.

I did my last recce yesterday as I'd been fretting about not knowing the first part of the race at all. Despite failing to get up when I'd intended, I still made it to the Thames Path before it was properly light and had a lovely time walking (with a little bit of gentle running) from Wallingford up to the turnaround and back. It was maybe a few more miles than I 'should' have done, but as most of it was walking I figured no harm done.

Right now all the race prep I can do has been done. Miles in my legs; strength work; massages; a lot of thinking and mental preparation; remembering all the useful things I've heard on the Talk Ultra podcast; kit bought and tried out; and non-perishables packed for food bags. The thought of the race terrifies me, the thought of failure is even worse, but I'm also excited.

I'm as ready as I think I could be given my circumstances, I'm fitter and stronger than ever both physically and mentally, and I can't wait. Bring it on!

As Tim Tollefson says- the race is your victory lap so go out and enjoy every minute.