4 Days To Go

4 days cant believe it is nearly here.  Excellent preparation yesterday at the Great North Western in Blackpool. Ran the whole way with a good friend who wanted a PB  he absolutely smashed it was a good buzz.  Felt really good and still had a lot left in the tank so it made me feel fairly confident about this weekend.

Also liked the fact I had enough in the tank to do a cheeky sprint finish, overtook a couple of folk on the last stretch which might not have seemed fair to them having worked hard to then have someone sprint by you.  Always a good crowd lining the finish really do enjoy that race.

Doing some last minute checking of gear and the like, believe everything is ready for the assault, lets just hope the weather stays alright has it is going to be a bit dodgy in places down on the banks if it lashes it down.

1 week to go

Training has gone really well this week.  I have a half marathon tomorrow in Blackpool which is really annoying as I feel really good and think I could get a PB but I know I have to be thinking about next weekend and will have to reign it in a bit.  New vests have arrived looking very smart.  I now have 1/2 people joining me for the 1st mile and 3 of my regular racing mates joining me a bit on Saturday but all day on Sunday so hopefully will be a good day.

Just sorting my diet out for next week and making sure all my gear is ready etc etc.  Will do a couple of smallish runs this week nothing to over strenuous.

My dad has bought a video camera to catch the highlights????

Hopefully 1 or 2 will say hello along the route.  Printing off a couple of t-shirts as well as the vests so people know what I am doing.

2 weeks time and its over (hopefully)

This time in 2 weeks and hopefully I will be sat at home having completed the greatest physical challenge I have ever attempted.  I am not underestimating what I have set myself but I believe I can do it and will most certainly give it my best shot.  I am not some super skinny lean mean athletic machine more just an ordinary 15 stone fella who has set himself some crazy challenge that will most certainly be a challenge and one that I have every chance of not completing as I do have of completing it.  According to one ultra race I would be part of the "shire" class due to my weight.

One good thing, i think, is that I have a 5 hour exam next friday on Arbitration Award Writing, riveting stuff, but it is keeping my mind off the following week and probably also helping me not to over train as I need to study.

Another confirmed participant is going to join me all day Sunday and for a few miles last thing on the Saturday so that is really good.  It will be like a lads jolly day out on the Sunday but with no beer involved.

2 Weeks To Go

Only 2 weeks to go.  Would like to say getting excited and nervous but I have a 5 hour exam next Friday on Arbitration - Award Writing, thoroughly riveting stuff so need to deal with that first.  Training this week has gone really well.  A good few miles done and feel ok.  Legs are a bit tired but a bit of rest tomorrow should see them ok.  Route and stops are all sorted now, even though my trusty support driver keeps wanting to move them slightly along the canal.  "Its only another 500m's" - Yeah well when you've just run 100 miles another 500m's can seem a bit more than you think.

The plan is to run 6 ish miles and have a 15 min break then another 6 ish miles and an hour break and repeat this 4 times on day 1 and 2.  Plan is 50 miles on day 1 and 47 (ish) on day 2 and that just leaves 30 on day 3.

I have 1 running partner definitely signed up for day 3 which is when I think I will need it.  None for day 1 which is ok as that should be the easiest day and I will want to just get in the Zone and run.  I believe I have a couple of maybe's for the last 12 miles on day 2 which again will be needed.

3 Weeks To Go

Done some really good training over the last few weeks.  A lot of miles in and hopefully a lot more over the next few weeks.

Not too many aches and pains, legs just feeling a little tired but I am used to that.  They have felt like this in all my training before an event so nothing new.

Had a good interview with the Irish World newspaper last week.  Hopefully will get a few more before the day.

Have 99% finalised where I am going to have breaks along the route. Just 1 or 2 more stops to check to make sure the back up driver can get to me.

Doing some final practicing on the food front to ensure I can eat and run or eat something and run 1/2 hour later.  A couple of bad experiences so far with a heavy gut or sickness but unless I try them I am not going to know what is good and what isnt.

Had a very good race yesterday at the Parbold Hill Race in Wigan, felt good and also had a bit left in the tank afterwards which is always nice.

Will post my plans over the next few days so ifanyone is out and about on the canal on the 2nd - 4th March they can say hello