The big race is in just 10 days

So, on Sunday 4th September, I'm running the Kent Coastal Marathon which is organised by the Thanet Road Runners. It'll be my 5th marathon (my 3rd 26.2 this year) and I'm really excited about it!  I think I am better trained for this one than I've been for the others, I'm lighter than I've been for years, and am really looking forward to seeing how I do, and how differently I perform having trained more than in the past.  I'm in the middle of my taper now, but not taking that as an excuse to slack off which I have done in the past. 

We're going on a mini-holiday tomorrow, to visit family, with a couple of days in Liverpool and then three days in beautiful Whitby, in Yorkshire.  I'll run 6 miles tomorrow morning before we leave, and then, for the first time ever on a holiday, I'm going to take my trainers with me...I want to get a 10 miler in on Sunday!  I'm looking forward to that - we'll be in Whitby on Sunday, so am planning to find myself a lovely coastal route for my run which will be part training, part exploring.  Just hope the people we're staying with don't mind me disappearing for a few hours!

The only thing that's really worrying me about the race though is my footwear and my feet.  I'm really not happy with my trainers and haven't been since I bought them - I carried on wearing my old ones for ages until they fell apart, and then foolishly just put up with the new ones not being that comfortable. I'd planned to buy some replacements, and specifically wanted to get a different pair in time to break them in before this marathon, but typically haven't managed it yet.

After last night's run though I've had some very strange pain under my big toe joint and really don't think I can put off getting some new trainers that fit me better although after reading this interesting article, about this type of pain in the big toe, which actually seems to be in my sesamoid bones shown in the picture, I think this particuarly problem might be to do with having worn 3 inch heels all day for the first time in ages earlier this week!  Anyway, I have 30 miles left to run before next Sunday, and although that's not ideal, it's just about time to get new shoes ready for the marathon and will hopefully be a psychological boost too, as I'll stop worrying about them.

So, my lunch break from work today will be trainer shopping :D Here's hoping I can find my perfect shoe that will help me run a PB race!