old lady running

The day we ran the marathon The day before the marathon is a bit of a jittery affair. My friend advises me to hydrate but the more I drink the more I pee. It’s a case of ‘in one end and out the other’. I try to be careful with what I eat but I really don’t feel like eating much. Bread, bananas, a scone, almonds and a nice crunchy apple. I do some window shopping in New Market to pass the time. Then it’s a quick stop at the supermarket for last minute supplies. The race-pack-pick-up, in central Auckland, is more relaxed than I thought it would be. People have time to chat. We try on snazzy gear, take some pics, get talked into buying stuff. We grab brochures on future marathons - London, New York. . . Ha ha! Full of nervous optimism. I leave with several products designed to get me through the 42.2 kms   - most notably a blackcurrant miracle potion that will ‘give me a boost and help me recover’. I’m all for ‘boosting’ of any sort, and ‘recovering’ sounds like a good idea

Time to taper The big day is nearly here. In the past week my training runs have gone down. And down. And down. Aunty Lydia (running mentor and creator of 16 week schedule) tells me it’s time to taper.   ‘Taper?” I am only learning about this aspect of training for the first time. In the schedule it appears alongside words like ‘easy’ and ‘rest’. The mileage has gone down, the rest days have gone up.   In the dictionary ‘taper’ appears alongside words like   - narrow; wane; die down; dwindle; lessen; recede; subside; abate; diminish; rescind; slacken off. Words that make me feel uneasy. Words that feel like the opposite of what I should be doing.   The crux of this ‘tapering’ lark appears to be to ‘slacken off.’   Which is obviously appealing after 16 weeks of ‘cranking up’. So what, I hear you ask, is my problem?! My problem, I am fast realising, is my need to over-do stuff. To over-prepare. To over-compensate. To always try and do just that ‘little bit more’ than

What could possibly go wrong? I have always been a sucker for self-help books. Think yourself rich. Think yourself thin.   Think yourself able to run 42.2 kms?! Mnnn. . . maybe not   While I am generally a positive person, I am under no illusions that positive thinking alone will get me over the line for 42.2 kms. So I have been thinking about exploring other mindfully helpful options. A book I read recently suggests the complete opposite. It’s a book based on Stoic philosophy that recommends a practice called ‘negative visualisation’. The theory is that you will be happy in your life if you practise thinking the worst. As in, if you ‘think negative’ (like worst possible scenario) then you will at least be prepared when bad things happen. According to this book, before embarking on a marathon, I should be asking myself: What could possibly go wrong? What obstacle could pop up? And where might I face some difficulties?   Lately, I have been having dreams about tur