Friday, 12th March – 44 days to go

A busy marathon centred day with a gym session with Tony in the afternoon, followed by a trip to York for my marathon shoes, a talk from a nutritionist plus a curry with some of the Thursday group.

After a warm up Tony stretches my legs and does a recovery massage. Liz takes some photos of Tony at work. Again, my legs feel significantly lighter when we leave than they did when I arrived.

Over to York to Sweatshop for some shoes. I’ve been having blister and black toe nail problems for some time so I want to get the best fitting road shoes I can for the day itself. I reckon with just over six weeks to go if I wear them in gradually I should have got used to them and be comfortable in them come the day. The lady in Sweatshop is the same lady who sold us our trail shoes and within five minutes my head is spinning with thicker mid soles, softer heel strikes, shock absorption and dispersion. She either really knows her stuff or just makes it up as she goes along and can talk confidently about running shoes for hours. What really sells it to me is the comfort and lightness. When she tells me about the improvements to the forefront cushioning and how this will protect my poor little tutsies the sale is made.

In the evening we pop over to Tong School for a talk from a couple of nutritionists. This has been arranged by Barney and Mick and most of the Thursday group are there to listen and ask questions. After charts and food diaries and a slide show I come to the conclusion I’ve not upped my carbs to take account of the extra work I’m doing. I should be eating my own body weight in carbs every three days or something instead of having the reduced portions I’ve been dishing up. At the end of the session Gill asks if I want to take her place in the Trimpell 20 on Sunday. After a momentary panic because I’m not psyched up for it I gratefully accept her offer.

Over to the 3 Singhs for a curry organised by Nikos. We talk running and I eat too much including polishing off Liz’s curry and rice. It’s out with the Rennies when we get home as the indigestion kicks in and feeds on the anxiety of the impending Trimpell 20.