6 days to go and the nightmares begin!

With only 6 days to go until the Brighton Marathon, my first and possibly last marathon, I had a nightmare about getting lost at 20 miles and getting home and no knowing what happened to the remaining six miles.

I am seriously getting nervous..........how do you all cope with this?

I used to have a really big problem with race nerves to the point of not turning up at a race. yes, that bad.

There are several strategies, I find sticking my head in the sand is really useful, what this means in practice is that in the 2 weeks before a race, I refuse to think about the race. That does mean that all my preparation is last minute but so be it, it's better than being on the toilet for 10 days solid beforehand.

Other and probably better techniques include visualisation, imagine yourself running the marathon, feeling strong, moving well. Make it a really positive experience in your head.

Another thing, what's the worst that can happen? You don't actually finish the marathon.. I think about the worst scenario and it's not that bad, life goes on, the world still turns etc...

Good luck and enjoy.

My "race" dreams usually involve taking strange routes through buildings!

It's all quite normal - have a great day

I was stressing last week about brighton (its my second) and had the weird dreams but not been naked on the start line yet.......  Like KK I burried my head in the sand until friday when i dug out my training diary for last year and compared with this year and seen how far i've come this year made me realise i've done as much as i can so all i can do is turn up and do my best!

Good luck and see you at the strat line

North London Runner wrote (see)

Are you really going to run a 3.10 marathon Kitty Kat?

That was the time I was aiming for originally, I can sub 1.30 a half so it was realistic. But I've been struggling with injury and illness and so I've missed a lot of training. I'm being fully realistic about this, I'm struggling with pace over distance, I just haven't done enough long runs, it's as simple as that.... and I've been trying to outrun the black dog for a while, which never helps.

You're going to want a revised time now aren't you?

Can I say about 6 pints?

i could understand if the olympics but if it all goes wrong  cant you just enter another race?

never had a running naked dream. sounds good though

Well if you run a 10k badly you can have another shot the next weekend but you need at least 12 weeks to run another marathon(well)

Yeah Kitty Kat-I agree I think you are too much of a good time girl for a 3.10 marathon

North London Runner wrote (see)

Well if you run a 10k badly you can have another shot the next weekend but you need at least 12 weeks to run another marathon(well)

Yeah Kitty Kat-I agree I think you are too much of a good time girl for a 3.10 marathon

Screamapillar wrote (see)

My "race" dreams usually involve taking strange routes through buildings!

It's all quite normal - have a great day

I had one of those the other night......the blue line went through a Department store, and we had to wait for the automatic glass doors to open!!!   (is it time for my medication again nurse?? )

Visualisation is a good tool......but how do you stop yourself doing it at 2am, when you should be SLEEPING!!!!

Clamshell wrote (see)

Screamapillar wrote (see)

My "race" dreams usually involve taking strange routes through buildings!

It's all quite normal - have a great day

I had one of those the other night......the blue line went through a Department store, and we had to wait for the automatic glass doors to open!!!   (is it time for my medication again nurse?? )

Visualisation is a good tool......but how do you stop yourself doing it at 2am, when you should be SLEEPING!!!!