What you need for your first marathon

List of not so random things posted by me when I should be writing my project which is due in 14 hrs.

[The psychological]

1. Theme song - like Mika, Grace Kelly, or, why not, Eye of the tiger.


2. Mantra - "Come on, pussycat, you can make it, three more steps!" (Speedy Gonzales to Sylvero Gato).


3. Divide et impera skills - The ability to divide your work into small chunks. "Let's see, I've done 18 km so far, which roughly means 1/2 which means I still have about 24 to go, nevermind, those 6 will go away soon, and then I'll have 18 which is just about how much I have done so I'm at the halfway point, ... After that corner there I should see the 20km mark, looking good, looking good, from there it's 30. From 30 it's 40 and we're done!!" Or, when climbing: "After this slope here, don't fret, it's not that steep, should see the ridge, then from there on it's easy scrambling and we're there." (The disadvantage of playing this while climbing is that in general you do not know where the summit is and you don't know that you're really about to reach it, which leaves you with stupid questions like "Is this it?" when you actually get to the summit.)


[The physical]

4. Proper sleep - starting four days before the big event.


5. Stretch - starting four days before the big event.


6. Power Gel - or anything similar


7. Carbo load - starting three to four days before. Main dish: pasta with veggies. The pasta should not be too oily or with tomato sauce or too meaty (this rules out most of the pasta dishes I know how to cook).


8. Anti-chafing cream - believe it or not, from my previous red badge of courage, I have scars on my inner thigh resembling cat scratches.


[The material]

9. Tights - see above. Make sure they are not new (you've ran in them). And that they have a back pocket or similar to store power gels and ipod.


10. Running shoes - I was climbing in the gym alone the other day and my running shoes were outside. At one point while doing my 20 min ARC I had this trip about one of those thieves that roam around the gym so I actually jumped off the wall, went outside and took my shoes inside.


11. Favorite socks, underwear, etc.


12. iPod