This time last year...

I was also sitting in a hotel room, contemplating the Semi de Paris which I was also doing the following day.  Much has changed and much is the same.

I'm still nervous.  My appetite wavers between HUNGRY and "Nothing for me, please."  That makes it tricky to plan my eating for the event.  Last year I just went with it but this year I have tried to regularise things a bit.  Of course, now I feel overly full and bloaty.  People do say that's normal with carb-loading but it's not so much fun as I'd hoped.

I'm also physically tired but mentally wide awake again.  Guess I'll shortly be lying in a darkened room waiting for the night to pass.  Then, I'll fall asleep about 4am and be cream-crackered when I get up.

I'm still disorganised.  I've laid out my kit and repacked my bags three times already.  Each time I spot something lying around afterwards that needs to be in a different stack.  At least I don't seem to have left anything important at home.  Once, I managed to forget my shoes.  True story.

What's different?  Well, apart from the hotel (much cheaper this year), I'm not worrying about whether I can finish the distance.  I know I can do this but I'm still in two minds:  Do I take it easy (knowing I have a marathon next week) or go for a good time so I can see how I've improved over the last 12 months.  I reckon I can put off that decision until about 4km into the race...

Well, time to turn off the lights and stare at the inside of my eyelids for a few hours...