The day before a race, I wouldn't say I have a routine as such as sometimes I might be travelling up to the race so you have to roll with it. For the last race I did in Cardiff I was working the day before and day off the race but today I have a day off....So this is what I did today before the Cardiff 10k.

First off I went for a run around the sand dunes, in typical fashion the week before the race I (and I assume every other runner?) analyse every step....are my legs ok, have I done to much, have I done to little, is my breathing ok, do I have a cold, am I feeling heavy, I have lost it all!! Ok maybe not the last one but the problem is I can't really remember exactly how I felt the day before the race last time.

By the end of the run I was feeling fine which was good I suppose and was good (although I went a little further when I made a last minute change of plan to the route because of the bulls) to see a fellow 'Porthcawl RunnersLife' (Andy) member heading in to the dunes himself as I was coming out.

After Breakfast and with Lee heading to a wedding I had made previous plans to go out with good mate Aaron who was going to take me to a big name coffee chain place for my first time...I constantly hear about him taking his girlfriend there and other work colleagues (who he has known for 5minutes...not bitter) so he promised to take me for some coffee and fruit toast. At the counter I panicked at the list which I never knew would have so many different options and stuttered 'latte please' while Aaron winked and said "usual love"....ok so maybe he didn't say that but he may as well have. I did enjoy the fruit toast but felt I was selling my sole to the cooperate world of 'shmoosers' and nearly chocked when I knew the price of it! Luckily Aaron sold an engine he has been building since he was eight but realised last week you can't actually drive 200mph anywhere and he is nearly 30 not to mention the fact he hasn't used his Golf since we beat some young whipper snapper on the dual carriageway in the 90's. My point being this engine just about covered the cost of the outing so if your heading to one of these places make sure you have agreed a decent overdraft with your bank.

Aaron came back to mine for food as Aaron would have had to sell the actual Golf to pay for sandwiches and his new 'fancy' car for chips...plus it is still the day before a race so chips is probably not the best thing to have. Around 4pm someone came along with a better offer and Aaron left, I watched the football scores on the sofa and then I thought why not tell this day to the world, so here I am.

Lee won't be back till about 10.30pm so I will have dinner alone which I don't mind as  I can watch what I want so I am thinking pizza with something which I have used as a pre race meal for a number of years and can't really go wrong with.

I know all runners are different but I can get quite nervous before races, event he day before so I like to take my mind of it the day before as I think you can lose energy if your nervous for a long time. So to take my mind of it tonight I will watch a film or maybe even try doing online shopping for the first time....the main thing is I will be in bed around 10pm to make sure I am ready to roll early in the morning.

Actually I better ring my dad who is taking me to the race in the morning so that's it....suppose you will read the result on here tomorrow!

Simx