The Long and Winding Road

Less that 36 hours to go. I'm as ready as i'll ever be. I can't say i'm brimming with boundless energy following my 2 easy 5 milers on Tuesday and Thursday. The week was so busy at work that my final week of taper dovetailed nicely with my reduced spare time, although I didn't get as much sleep as i'd have liked. Still tonight is the important night for rest and with no pressing deadlines in the morning I should be well rested by the time I hit the road for Galway shortly after Midday.

I've prepared my 2 "three hour bottles" of perpeteum for reconstitution with water just before the race as it has a limited shelf life of as low as 5 hours, depending on temperature. So if it's as unseasonally warm as it was today (20 degrees C) i'll reconstitute the second bottle at the 24 mile drop zone. Apart from that drop zone I don't have any specific need to utilise the other 2 drop zones available to the ultra runners - i'll probably drop a bottle of coke somewhere and maybe an emergency perpeteum mix in case they lose the first one - I only got 2 out of 3 drop bags last year. Abina made a trip to the pet store today to pick up distinctive dog poop bags that will help me identify my drops among the sea of black and white plastic bags on the drop tables and she didn't let me down, landing home with a roll of orange and orange with black spots doggy bags.

Clubmate Denis Looney, who had to pull out due to injury, kindly let me borrow his new running belt with bottle holder, which I trialled this week and it worked like a dream. Denis is in a low place at the moment having to forgo the race after putting in the hard training, so hugs and kisses to him. It won't be the same without him.

To mitigate against cramping i'll carry endurolyte capsules in the running belt (and include 1 or 2 in the drop bags) - the recommended dose is between 1 and 3 per hour - so i'll be popping pills every other minute. I may also include some solid food in the drop bags, just in case I get a bad case of the munchies (a cereal bar or two) and i'll top off the menu with an emergency gel or two.

With the food sorted all that's left is my outfit - my orange shoes will match the doggy bags and after that it's mix and match with black and white, which compliment any outfit. Oh! and finally my pacing strategy, well I aim to go out.........................................................