The trainer change over

So, it has been an eternity since I updated this.  Apologies, Ditte!  Today it is six weeks until the big day.  I cannot believe it is so close.  As a good friend pointed out the other day, this time last year I was the girl telling everyone I was going to run a marathon.  Now I actually am running a marathon... in six weeks.  As I have said repeatedly, training in mountains is less than ideal.  It certainly doesn't make me want to "attack the hills"  as the books say, but it means I walk up them with purpose I suppose.  My training manual has been amazing, I have stuck to it religiously and am now doing 16 miles for my long runs, once a week.  I have to say, I don't run it all!!

My long runs take place on a Thursday, my day off.  I travel down to the sea front in Beirut at 6 am and start my morning sitting in the lobby of the Four Seasons drinking a lot of green tea.  The Corniche in Beirut wraps around the whole city so I run back and forth as the city wakes up.  More and more people join me, I am slogging away at about 8 miles by the time the pavement is most crowded.  It is heavy going and running still doesn't come naturally to me.  If I have prepared properly and eaten correctly I have enough energy to keep going, if not it really does make a huge difference.  It is quite amazing what the body can actually do, before I started this I was totally aware of my own capabilities. On Friday I had to resort to purchasing a sun visor, following last Thursday's run my face was a lovely shade of lobster and I am keen to avoid any more of that.

This week I bid farewell to my first pair of proper running trainers.  They say that they should last about 100 miles so I guess I have done over that.  Apparently I have very bony ankles and as a result the shoes ripped at the back and were cutting in to me.  I bought some new ones on a recent trip back to the UK and they are wonderful. I never appreciated such a simple piece of kit could make such a difference.  I mean, they would be significantly better if they had wings, or a little motor in them, but I can notice an improvement when I run.

With only six weeks to go now I realise I need to improve my strength, so have got myself a trainer to push me through these final weeks.  I am noticing great improvements in my body and my energy levels - so apart from the sheer exhaustion of running, I would reccomend marathon running to you all.  Perhaps Ill reevaluate this statement come April 23rd...