Come in number 2550. Your time is up.

We did it. We signed up. Kasia and I are now officially participants in the 2015 Warsaw marathon.

It’s the first time I’ve signed up for a marathon. I was a little shocked when I had to enter my expected finishing time to the nearest ten minutes. 

Should I play it safe, and go somewhere around the 5 hour mark? Or push myself to the limit and try for a sub-three hour time. After all, if I’m running 3 miles in 20 minutes now, 262 in 180 works out, right? I can do maths.

So I played it down the middle, and aimed for four hours. Well, a minute under to be precise. I can finish faster, but damned if I’m finishing later.

My race number is 2550. Kasia’s was in the 7000s. We quickly surmised that this must be down to expected finishing times, as it would a little odd if 5000 people all happened to signed up on the same day. I think I’ll be happy just to get around the course in one piece and survive long enough to enjoy a couple of days sightseeing in Warsaw.

As we signed up separately, I paid my 60 Euros fee, and read that if I wanted an Adidas branded T-shirt, it would cost me an extra 30 Euros. I declined this amazing offer, and stuck with the generic one. Kasia later informed me that she paid in Polish, and her fees were nearly half of what mine were.

Oh well.

I did my three mile route last night, slightly slower than at the weekend. The diaphragm cramps returned, although not as harshly as on Sunday. A little research at Google University tells me that I need to adjust my breathing. This makes sense.

In my first couple of posts, I mentioned that I have a lot of work to do on my cardio and breathing; it seems that while my legs can run and hardly feel fatigued even after the longer runs, my breathing technique is struggling to catch up. This needs to be my focus over the next couple of weeks, to settle into a routine that will see me through the entire marathon.

On another note, Compeed Blister Plasters may just be the greatest thing ever.