Morning of the Marathon

It is 5:51am. My alarm was set for 5:30am. I was awake at 5:29am. I mean my eyes opened one minute before my alarm was to go off and I am wide awake. I am still not sure if that is prescience on my part, eery or just full-blown paranoia. It is not that unusual for me, though.

I went to bed at 11:00pm. I intended to go to bed at 9:00pm but I just wasn't tired. I slept all through the night. This has NEVER happened to me before a marathon or an ultramarathon.

I am a strange mixture of calm and hyper-attentive. I am not so much nervous as incredibly in the moment. A flurry of phone calls to make sure people are awake. I want this to be over with.

I can write this because everything I need is laid out, packed and ready to go.

I couldn't stomache the idea of my usual muesli breakfast before a race or a long run. Knew I needed calories, so I choked down a protein bar and a power bar. There, 500 calories.

I drink a litre of water.

6:05am. Time to pull on my running armour. New, freshly broken in Asics Nimbus Gels, fresh battery in my Polar S625X, my lucky Stormy Trail 67K Ultramarathon Tril Race singlet and just a smidgeon of apprehension.

There is nothing left to do but run.

See you at the Finish Line, folks.