Pre-Edinburgh

Thursday: Another very sunny and hot day in Manchester. I decided to run without a t shirt (zipper on though, of course) and partly due to being in a rush, I left the house without glasses. I am quite short-sighted but have faith I can walk around without hitting (too many) things. I am loathe to wear glasses for running, I find them uncomfortable; there was no time for contacts, so I left. I also didn't have breakfast nor did I take a drink with me, and I really paid for all these errors. I covered 2.95km in 20mins 12 secs, which is a great pace for me, but I really didn't like today's run. I felt incredibly thirsty and hungry throughout it, struggling for most of it, and desperate to end it. Also, having a lot on my mind, a lot of stress, I am sure contributed to an awful run. I wasn't focused properly and though the pace is great, I am supposed to be conquering endurance levels, yet I felt 20mins took everything I had. Clearly I was going too fast, too, and more focus would have fixed that. Today's run was very disappointing for me but I can take away a lot of lessons from it, such as the importance of breakfast and hydration. I travel tomorrow to Edinburgh, coinciding with a rest day, and will do a pre-race run on Saturday. I am feeling quite uplifted to be going anyway, so today's run hasn't got me too down; I am instead expecting myself to be 100% focused on Saturday, to have a run that fills me with confidence for Sunday. The heel was bothering me again today, but once I put on my marathon socks and my trainers, I couldn't feel the ache at all. It's a keen reminder that I invested wisely in proper socks and trainers. Going back to the home city is a cause for mixed emotions, and am looking forward to having a race to run there. A bundle of nerves and excitement, it ought to be a memorable time.