Final pre-London

Yes, yes.  I know London was yesterday, but a race report without at least a partial update on the proceeding weeks feels like another gap in a blog that is already more gap than actual blog.

So that cold, it cleared up.  It hang around in the chest for a little while but short of hard extended sprints, it didn't cause any really problems, just additional effort to get things done until it eventually faded away.

The calves eased up after a week without running.but I could still feel a nagging pain in them during runs and so the last few weeks of pre-London training lacked the long sessions that were in the plan and efforts were reduced in time or pace, but so be it.  Getting to the start line relatively healthy was more important than hobbling there with a perfect training plan.

And this would have been the final notes during the taper phase if not for a bit of a running shoe shopping spree and then the unconstrained desire to use them once they arrived.  With a week of no running, the internet drew me in and practically forced me to make the purchases so it's nor really my fault.  Anyway, the Inov-8 Roclite 315s had to go back for a different size.  The Saucony Endorphin Track Spikes seem like a good fit but have to be tested in anger.  And then the most beautiful of the bunch, the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultras.  And this last pair are the ones that tempted me into running a couple of sessions that I really didn't have to, such as the interval session on the grass six days before the marathon, and the 300m intervals on the track three days before the marathon.  You know, the sort of sessions you would tell anyone in their right mind not to do.  To not be so stupid.

So, in the last two days before the goal race of the year, the calves were still feeling usable, although a little more tender than I would have chosen, and I felt relatively fit and healthy.  A balance that I'm happy to take into the day.  Several months of quality training were in the legs, and probably just as importantly, in the mind.  Time to perform.