Seville Marathon 2012 pre-race report

I've been continuing to get blisters on my foot this week, even after running only 30 minutes, so I decided to take action, risky action. The problem seemed to be coming from an island of hard skin that was causing the neighboring skin to ruck up. I decided to do something that is not usually advisable two days before a Marathon: I peeled it off. The skin underneath was too virgin to stand up to the rigors of a full Marathon, so I stuck a Compeed plaster on top and - touch wood - it seems to be holding up.

The logistics of this Marathon couldn't be easier. Seville is just a couple of hours away from Madrid by train - I took it as a good omen that the train departed from platform 7 and my seat was 7a in car 7. My hotel is actually in the Olympic stadium where the race finishes (although it would have been nice at the price I'm paying if they had reserved the room with a view of the track as I had asked for...). Just as I was checking in, a group of huge guys in sports kit came in - I thought, these guys don't look like Marathon runners. In fact, they weren't, they were a rowing crew from Czechoslovakia.

The expo, just around the corner (if the girl in reception hadn't sent me the opposite way round the outside of the stadium!), is noticeably more "cutre" (naff) than the one in Valencia. I bought some Wright socks which will hopefully put an end to this nonsense with the blisters (don't worry, I won't wear them for the first time in the Marathon!). Annoyingly, the t-shirts in my size had already gone - after 27 editions, you'd think they would have worked out the system of asking people to specify their size in the inscription form. In fact, as it is a vest rather than a t-shirt, medium may be a better size for me after all.

Anyways, it's all about the race tomorrow, these are just details but they are the sort of thing that make the difference between people choosing to run one Marathon or another. I hope the event itself is a little more professional.

So now I'm off to meet my recently acquired friends for the Last Supper of pasta (which I won't be eating again for a while). Then it's bed and... Well, you just have to log in again tomorrow to see how it went; I have to do this thing!