Snowdonia Marathon 2012

Regarding race numbers, i presume i will collect 108 but have not been informed by Jayne Lloyd that my personal property is safe and well and resting in the box on the table in the back of the Rugby club shed.

The way i feel emotionally about the race at the moment is if my number had been accidentally given to another runner  like it was in 2001 then i would start a fight on with anyone in the Rugby shed.

One should feel excited about running your 18th consecutive Snowdon Marathon but if there was a cancellation due to some unseen event i simply would not care.

Maybe the excitement will build on Saturday but i doubt it.   

PJL - come on now chin up your 18th is a big birthday oh and i think we're in the Electric Mountain building this year not the shed

PT6 - hope your not finding the Welsh weather too much of a shock

Slightly scared myself watching the course preview clip  worried about how much i've blanked from my memory since last time

Sat in work counting the seconds until I leave...

Got month end processing to do, if I don't do it, my boss will try to and mess it up and slag me off over the office, and I'll have to sort it our next week,  so:

 HURRY UP AND ARRIVE MONTH END DATA

(this being the NHS, this is data for month end September 2012, 4 weeks ago!!!)

I digress. Packed last night. 2 of everything, just in case... trainers still stuffed with newspaper after a wet run out at Wix 5... Our ladies scored a county point... Little old Dagenham 88 against scary Springfield Striders, Colchester Harriers, Hariwch RR et al!!

I digress again... I'm nearly excited, just get blinking work out the way. I do love these destination races... Done Loch Ness, Florence and Paris marathons... Bit of a pain travelling and trying to sort out nutrition before, but a nice old knees up after instead of going home and having to walk the dogs... The only trouble is keeping off the vino the night before... It is technically a carb!!

Data's still not arrived...

UDS, I'd like to join you for a wander up the first hill if there's still enough light left. (Perhaps I should take a torch.) I hope to arrive before 5pm. No promises I'll be Karaoke-ing this year. I haven't sung a note since SNOD2011.

T Rex, you are a one. I'll run home faster tonight then. Now where's that list?  I spoke with an acquaintance of yours from your neck of the woods last Saturday at Round Rotherham.

jason d, pre-race crop? Must be for streamlining purposes. It'll make quite a difference at the speed you go. I can only imagine.

Last day at the "coal face" today. Been waiting months for this weekend - it's like Xmas as a kid. 5 miler this morning in the dark (got months of this now!) may go for a short jog tomorrow or may just stay in bed!

PJL - sorry to hear that you don't feel in the right frame of mind for this year's race. I hope that your usual excitement at the prospect of this great marathon returns with vengeance.

Thinking about your 108 number made me realise that we runners can be a superstitious bunch. I always use the same safety pins on my number every time until I have a bad race then I replace them and so the cycle continues. Anyone one else have a confession to share??

Packed. Ready to go.

one day of work (inc 7.30am meeting) then I'm of to Caernarfon for pasta and B&B. Then I might jog round a blwdi big mountain.

PJL - I have your dose of excitement and nearly everybody else's   Really can't wait!  After running four marathons in four days back in February 2012 when the temperature never rose above 0 degrees (and on one day was -10 degrees at the start) I'm more than happy to face anything Snowdon wishes to throw at me!

Bring it on

Thanks for mentioning safety pins LG - I packed last night and had forgotten them.

Gentle 4 mile jog for me done. Now its rest until the small matter of saturday morning.... Haven't felt this nervous since my first marathon 2 years ago. No pre race crop for me; Weather forecast sounds like I'll need all the insulation I can get.

Did anyone else notice the clip missed off the climb out of Beddgelert? I keep telling myself that it, and the mile or two after, is where it'll be decided if I get my time or not. Understimate it at your peril!

Do we get an extra hour in bed to recover on Sunday? Or is it next weekend?

Hitting the roads tomorrow morning, with a plan to visit somewhere en route. Now need a post-snod plan as we're staying until tuesday.

And one for the soundtrack if its not already been got - "I will surviive".

Don't forget the Vaseline... Got a bit sore at Brentwood 10k a couple of weeks ago...

A little rreminder of the severity of the Bwlch-y-groes climb/descent (+ how extreme the weather can be!?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuWnROC-U_Q&feature=plcp

If someone could please arrange the extra hour to add itself in between miles 1 and 18 so i have 5 hours before the nasty man trys to get me in his bus it would be appriciated.

off to scare myself with JB's clip now

OK scared cos he says running the marathon is harder than learning Welsh and i've been struggling with that for years

lol Chrissi - had no choice when other half/all her family are from the Caernarfon area and are Welsh speaking!! I've still not forgiven my wife for telling the TV company that I'd take part in the programme when they phoned up!! Had a nice chat with someone from the TV production company yesterday, although I will avoid the camera before the race on Saturday after getting collared last year!!

Midlife Crisis – make sure those safety pins are the lucky ones

You are spot about the climb just after Beddgelert. With everyone thoughts focused on the first and last hills it gets forgotten about and catches plenty out with still a long way to go.

Just back from the physio (treat the legs before Satuday's bashing!?) - I noted some numbers down on the entry list on the race website - thought that the number next to my name sounded familiar - then realised that it was the 2010 entry list!!

JB - i did that with the 2010 numbers too and my OH and his family have given up on me getting the hang of it after 20 years think my brain has the language bit missing couldn't do French at school either.