Vaal marathon physical preparations and mental destructions

This week has been a total balls up. After far to much wine and not enough sleep on Monday night, Tuesday’s hill session did not happen, nor did Wednesday’s make up run thanks to all the water descending from the heavens, but Thursday (thankfully) was slightly better. Murray said to run with the club (thank the gods because I did not feel up to a repeat performance of the ‘Power Session’), so we set off for an easy 10km with the (rather large) group that is running at Vaal on the weekend. It was a pleasant run, without incident and I felt pretty good throughout, running a bit with Jeanine, a bit with Gav and a bit with Jeff (all of whom are faster and stronger than I am).

Apart from my tight ITB, which I am foam rolling, and my stupid aching planter fasciitis on my right foot, which I am not really doing anything about because there is not really anything one can do for it*, I’m physically feeling OK for Sunday. Mentally I’m completely effed, but physically I’m OK. Here is what is going on in my mind, in no particular order:

1. In order to qualify for a seeding higher than E for Oceans, I need to run a sub-4:15, which is extremely unlikely given that my 21km PB is 2:07 and I would essentially have to run two 21km PBs straight after each other in order to do that. OK, so I’ll get an E seed, that’s fine. Then I just need to finish in under 5 hours because that’s the E seed block.
2. What if my stomach is lame again?
3. Which shoes should I run in? My Asics are starting to give me a bit of grief, but I’m not sure if it has anything to do with my Asics or if it’s just my feet. My New Balance are nice, but they seem to have a slightly built up heel on the outside and I’m worried that it will mess with me on a longer run, given the fact that I supernate. They’ve been OK for a 21 and for shorter runs, but I don’t know if they’ll hurt me for a 42. They are lighter than my Asics though…
4. What fuel do I run with? I’ve established that Gu seems to be part of the problem with my stomach – or at least it exacerbates the problem – so I’m going to try running with 32Gi and EnerVit tablet things and Rehydrate instead. I’ve tried the 32Gi ones on longer club runs and they’ve been fine, but I don’t know if they give me the same energy boost that Gus did. But maybe I just need to take them a bit more frequently?
5. At what point do I take the Rehydrate? Should I take more than one? Jeanine only used one at Secunda, but everyone is different and she’s a machine, so who knows.
6. What if I’m not built for distances like this? OK, I know I’m not built for distances like this, no one is, but what if my mind is not strong enough to tell my body to shut the eff up and keep going?
7. How will I know if I’m genuinely not OK or if I’m just being a big baby? Will I even know that? Is there even a point where I should stop? Should I have just tried to suck it up at Secunda and finish? Was I just being a big girl pants about the whole thing? That’s the problem with time, it gives you distance and blurs the sharp edges of the feeling, so you can’t recall exactly what it was you were going through, which is when you start to doubt you were ever really going through anything in the first place.
8. I’m running with Ta, Shan, Bridge, Phillipa (I think) and Pete so that will hopefully help, provided I don’t lose them like I did at Tough One, but what if I lose them? What if I have to go to the toilet again? What if I have to stop and tie my shoelace?

What if, what if, what if? URGH! I know I’m over analysing the whole thing, and I know I’m probably psyching myself out, but this is how my brain works, I’m that guy. Girl. Whatever. I am praying to any and all gods that I don’t have a repeat performance of Secunda and that I get this damn thing finished. Any additional prayers are welcome.

* OK, so there are a few things you can do for plantar fasciitis:

1. freeze a full plastic water bottle and roll your foot back and forth over it, the cold will soothe the pain and stimulate blood flow to the area, speeding up recovery
2. gently roll your foot back and forth over a hockey or golf ball, the massaging motion will stimulate blood flow to the area, speeding up recovery
3. sit on the floor with a towel in front of you and grip the end with your toes, pull the towel towards you by scrunching your toes up and releasing, do this until you reach the other end of the towel. I don’t actually know why this helps, I think it’s just the stretch and release movement but I am definitely not an expert so don’t trust me.
4. the only real fix is rest, but if you can’t rest make sure you stretch your calves before and after every run