Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Road to London Part 3: The March Hare?

Miles and Miles....

March has been a bit of a mixed month, I succumbed to a second bout of the flu mid way through. It seems that no matter how much I try to cross train, look after my diet, sleep etc my immune system is a litle bit shot at the moment.

However, my longer runs have finally increased and are safely between 14-18 miles with a couple of 20 milers and marathon pace efforts thrown in . Race nutrition has been tried and tested and will consist of High 5 Energy gels, the apple flavour being my favourite, so 3 shall be consumed throughout the race....Maybe 4 if I am flagging in the later stages.

If I am being completely honest, I am a little over running at the moment and lacking a little in motivation. I think the excitement of the past 3 months has caught up with me and I now just want to get it over with, next week cannot come fast enough!

As usual, March has still been an eventful month in finalising preparations...Alongside putting in the miles.

Boobie Care
If you are of the fairer sex, a good supportive sports bra is an absolute must, unless of course you wish to sport a fetching pair of Spaniel's ears. Thought not. My weapon of choice is the Shockabsorber Run sports bra. My friend Britta first recommended it to me and pointed me in the direction of the website. This basically scares all females into purchasing a sports bra. Take a look. My other half I am ashamed to say, was particularly interested in this website, you will understand once you take a peek at the 'bounceometer'. The bra differs from any sports bra I have worn in the past in that you are effectively strapping yourself in; there are two clasps to fasten, as opposed to the traditional one. But OMG, it is totally worth it, there is zero movement, the straps do not slip and you are in for a smooth, bouncefree ride.

http://www.shockabsorber.co.uk/bounceometer/shock.html

Charity Chosen
Although I managed to obtain a coveted ballot place in the VLM, I have decided to still run for a charity. My choice came easy in choosing The MS Society. My Uncle has suffered for years with this disease and I know first hand the effect it can have....I only hope my bright orange vest is delivered in time. If you would like to make a donation and can spare a few pennies, please do so at the below link, your support is much appreciated.

 http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=EmilyMoll&faId=192422&isTeam=false

Nike ID
I needed some new trainers for race day....Although unfortunately they are yet to arrive. For these I chose the Nike LunarGlide model. They are inbetween a lightweight racing shoe and a normal more structured trainer. The suppport adjusts to your stride with each footstrike. I chose to design these myself using NikeID. Your chosen model appears on screen blank and then you go crazy with the colours. I just hope they arive in time for me to break them in.

Alongside my trainer purchase I also discovered the Nike Core compression range (see the post 'Compress Yourself' for more info on compression). A rather fetching pair of orange, black and grey striped hotpants caught my eye...I thought to myself that they would go perfectly with my Orange MS Society vest. So look out for me race day, I will be head to toe pretty much in orange, so give me a cheer!

I must admit, with one week to go I am getting increasingly nervous. 26.2 miles is a long way to travel on foot, but I am confident that I have done the hard work and I'm sure the crowd will drag me along.....Hopefully in under 4 hours!

I am currently taking bets on how many toe nails I will have left....