Well, as I've been bragging to anyone who'll listen, I've never been so prepared for a marathon as I feel I am now. So of course, I had to go and get a strain in my back that definitely affected my running yesterday, but it seems to be easing off nicely.
Yesterday I did my first Hash run. You may have read about them in the book Running with the Kenyans- least, that's where I first heard about them. Their tag line is 'The drinking group with a running problem' although thankfully, this particular group are more into their running than their drinking.
It was an interesting group. The couple who invited me set the hash. Essentially they use blobs of sawdust to mark out a route, but it isn't as easy as following the route around. Instead there are various symbols. For example 3 blobs means, that there are more than one trail, but only one of them is the true trail. The true trail is found when you pass 5 blobs; a false trail is denoted by 2 lines. 2 blobs together means run to the back of the field to pick up the other runners. A nice touch which makes this type of running incredibly sociable and very inclusive. 4 blobs means stop and wait. Typically these were where there was some inherent danger, or where there could be confusion on the route. For example, when coming to a road.
Well, race week is upon us, and a hurricane hasn't just hit Halstead, so already its infinitely better than the race week of my last marathon (NYC 2012 which was cancelled). As a result, I am feeling remarkably relaxed. The fact that I don't have to fly anywhere, nor stay in a hotel already makes this one of my top races.
Given the strain in my back, I wont run again until Saturday, when I'll go for my usual 20 min jog the night before. Other than that, I will spend the evenings this week watching the VLM coverage - I missed it since I was on holiday. Foam rolling, and stretching....
No personal music players allowed, so I shall have to remember a soundtrack to play in my head...
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