Positive Vibes

What a difference a week can make, I am positively reformed.

Mentally I am now totally focused for the coming weekend.

Physically I am prepared.

I will conquer and overcome there are no negative thoughts everything is positive….

What has bought this whole turnaround form last weeks despair; well I can’t answer fully why the transformation has occurred I guess it’s a combination of a number of factors.

The first being I completed a couple of good days running 32miles on the Thursday followed by 26.5 miles on the Saturday. The recovery for both runs was such that I could have comfortably run the next day if I wanted to.

The second being a swift kick up the backside metaphorically speaking from my wife, who basically said "get a grip man, with me crewing, you will be kicked down the canal to the finish."

The third was the fact that after my last few Ultra’s my children have taken my medals in for there show and tell sessions at school. My one lad asked me last week if I would be getting a medal this time as he wanted to take it in for show and tell next week, if I needed any more incentive to finish that was it as I certainly don’t want to let him down .

Yesterday I spent the day manning a checkpoint for the Cardiff Ultra which is one of Rory Coleman’s races. The route started in Brecon and followed the route of the Taff trail to Cardiff. We were situated at the 28mile point in Aberfan. The route looked fantastic with some great views and talking to the runners they certainly backed this up. (One for next year maybe)

Any how I got to talk to a lot of the runners generally giving them mental support and the usual banter you would expect.

All in all I had great fun, met some great folk and spent the day being inspired.

I spent some time talking with Rory and he gave me some pointers for the race itself which was helpful. The discussion also touched on the Ultra 100 which is 3 and a bit weeks after GUCR and would I be recovered for this. I can’t answer the question but I hope to be but time will tell.

So this is my plan to complete the GUCR. Start at 6am in

Gas Street

, finish at Little Venice some time on Sunday to get my medal…

As you can see I have no aspiration on time or placing, I am going to listen to my body or more to the point my feet. This will be my biggest fear finishing with shredded feet and then having insufficient time for them to recover for the Ultra 100.

As this week goes by my mind will become more and more focused on one single action, the point at which Dick hangs MY medal over my head. I will be so focused on that one single action that it will rise above the inevitable negative thoughts which will try and take over during the race.

All that’s left to say is Bring it on I am Ready……