2 weeks to go until the Dublin marathon. At this late stage I’ve got a big pile of fears. I’ve worked hard for a year, I’ve put in huge efforts in training and I’m not planning to run marathons every year, so I’m putting all the preparation on one big race: the 2009 Adidas Dublin Marathon. (That’s not actually true of course – I’ve had great races all year, I’ve beaten my targets and expectations, and I’ve got really strong legs and a solid foundation to take into next year, but that’s how it feels right now).
Fears:
1. I’ll get ill before the race. I’ve had Jack’s virus for a few days and it killed my legs, for example.
2. The weather will be horrendous, making the race impossible to enjoy and killing my hopes for an awesome time.
3. I’ll get stuck in a bottleneck.
4. Tendons will tear.
5. Bonk (sorry, “the wall”).
6. I’ve woefully misjudged my pace planning.
7. Er, that’s about it.
That doesn’t seem so bad when I write it out. My number one worry is illness, and I think I’m pretty well prepared for all the other things (and for most worries of other runners that I’ve previously considered and discarded).
Fear, fear, fear. This all seems pretty negative, but positives arise from negatives. Without a challenge of significant difficulty and uncertainty it’s impossible to feel real achievement with completion and success.
Like I said, 2 weeks today!
