10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About Being Bored The Day Before The Cork City Marathon 2018

1. All Ready For Sunday?

I think it’s nice of people to ask if you’re ready for Sunday, I really should make an effort and come up with some Instagram style inspirational quote like;

“I’m not ready.......I AM READY“.

Instead I just reply “I’m grand”.

2. Pinchy Knee Syndrome

I think I still have the dying embers of pinchy knee syndrome. I was hoping that the taper would kill it off but it’s still hanging around. It worries me slightly, but lots of things worry me so I’ll just add it to the list of worries. It’s a long list and that’s just the running list.

3. Jack Daniels

I think I found an acceptable taper plan. I read it in a book. It was under the headline >120 mile/week marathon plan so that made me happy. I tried to follow it. I did fairly well. I like plans. I still feel like a dog that hasn’t been walked properly.

4. Giro D’Italia

I think that if you look at the elevation profile of Cork it looks like a stage from the Giro. A stage where Chris Froome would attack at halfway, drop everyone and win by three minutes after being useless for the previous two weeks. I hope I can be like Froome tomorrow, I’ve definitely been useless for the last two weeks. I probably won’t, I did go to the doctor during the week, although he took blood from me, I should ask for it back.

5. Jiggling For Justice

I think the taper has tipped me into the jiggling when you run category. The pinchy knee syndrome induced break definitely didn’t help. I haven’t weighed myself as I don’t want another worry on the list, but the jiggling is a bad sign.

6. Frizzy

I think the humidity will be a big problem tomorrow. It causes lots of issues. It’s terrible for your hair, makes it all frizzy. The excess water molecules disrupt hydrogen bonding between the keratin strands causing frizziness. I couldn’t be bothered getting mine cut before the race because of it. The Albanian who cut it two weeks ago did a good job anyway.

7. Dracula

I think my new blinds might be my biggest worry. I got new blackout blinds and blackout curtains but they’re letting in the light at the top of the window. It’s terrible, I’m waking every morning at 800am. I’ve resorted to covering the windows in bin bags as an interim measure. It kind of works.

8. Lone Wolf

I think I’m a lone wolf tomorrow, I don’t really want to be a lone wolf. I’d rather be in a pack. I might see if I can join Cathal O’Connell’s pack. Lone Wolves have no fun.

9. I Think You’ll Find it’s a bit More Complicated Than That

I think a marathon is very simple. You just run at the pace that you’re supposed to run at for 26 and a bit miles. It’s very simple. Simple things are complicated. I hope it’s simple.

10. Karma Police

I think I might be one of those people that people follow on marathon trackers secretly hoping that the next 5k split is horrendous. “He’s in trouble now”, “I knew it, too many miles”. Hopefully the karma police are out there somewhere protecting me from such evil thoughts. 2:40 plus or minus 3 minutes hopefully this is what I’ll get, hopefully.