It's the final countdown!

How did that happen?

All of a sudden it's the final week of my mammoth 4 months of training and a mere 4 days til I take to the streets of NY. 26.2 miles worth of street.

I'm giddily aware that THE END is approaching and it's hard to believe that THE END would ever show itself. I had started to feel that my training for the marathon was like Prince Charles' training for the throne. What was I doing this all for again? It's been such a bloody long time since I agreed to it that I appear to have forgotten.

Fortunately, Get Kids Going and the NYC Marathon have been sending me scarily large quantities of information about what it going to happen on Sunday and how to prepare for it (how to eat, sleep, walk, talk in the final couple of days). I have paid a large amount of attention to 2 things: tapering and loading.

Tapering means run less. This is fine. I like this.

Especially with these winter days having closed in. The cold and the rain I can deal with because when you run you get warm and you can wear a cap. Problem solved. But you can't do much about the dark and it's not much fun running in the dark. You can't see anything and probably more important is that no one can see you. You can buy these god awful fluorescent yellow vests but at the behest of my cutting edge fashion sense I turned that option down in favour of some awesome bright neon orange leg warmers and wrist bands that I bought for an 80s party a couple of years ago. They look wicked. If I had a photo I would gladly upload it for all to see. As it is, I don't. Shame.

Loading means eat more. This is also fine. I like this even more.

It's meant to be carb-loading, which is stocking up carbohydrate in your body so that it can take running for 4 hours+plus and then it all gets a big technical for me. So I just remember that it means eating lots.

I am taking this opportunity for 3 weeks to eat like Lard-Ass in the blueberry pie eating contest in Stand by Me. It's great. Just me and a fridge full of food. Cakes-a-go-go, piles of pasta, oodles of noodles, bread by the loaf. I'm actually a little bit worried about where all this food is going. Surely it's not all loading onto MY body. Where? Coz I sure as hell can't see it. My body is pure muscle. Oh well, I'll just eat this pack of biscuits while I think about it some more.

This may well be the last entry before I head to NY. I will be far too busy tapering and loading for the next 2 days to do this blog thing.

Hopefully I'll see you all on the other side. With a salad in one hand and a glass of vino in t'other.

Thanks to everyone who's sponsored me, ran with me, fed me, put up with me. Fingers crossed it's all been worth it.

Anna the running banana

xx