We’re here, in Ommen. On holiday park Ommerland. The start of the Run Forest Run Ommerland 43k will be 400 meters from our little bungalow tomorrow. In a minute I’m going to check out the start location, which is also the start of question time. See, I am prepared, yet, I still have a lot of questions to answer. Some now, some tomorrow during the race.
The first question is, what am I going to wear tomorrow? My bag is full of running clothes, because the weather forecast keeps changing. First it was going to freeze tomorrow, now it’s going to be almost 10 degrees. That’s the difference between a pair of extra warm pants and a pair of shorts, and the difference between four layers and two layers.
How much to carry?
The next question is how much sports drink am I going to bring? I prefer to bring enough for the whole race. I run on Isostar, as I don’t like sweet drinks. At the refreshments post I always grab some water, except for the last one. That’s the Coca Cola stop, but only if they have the real stuff.
However, my right shoulder still hurts. The physiotherapy sessions have made my shoulder a little bit more mobile, but also more painful. I hope that’s a temporary thin. Especially, because at this moment I get a jolt of pain in my right deltoid twice every minute. On top of that, during my last training run my right shoulder started to hurt after 3 kilometers, so I’m not looking forward to running with a heavy trail vest. Maybe I should just fill up my bottle at the refreshment posts.
Film with GoPro or phone?
Having said that, I was planning to bring my GoPro. But should I? I want to film my trail runs for my YouTube-channel, but it does add extra weight. Not a lot, but still. I could bring that a bit down, by just bringing my mini Joby Gorilla pod. If I do, I have to swap the GoPro for my phone, whenever I want to take a picture with my phone. So, what to do?
The whole trail is marked tomorrow. I have the trail downloaded on my watch. That should do it. Or should I start the AllTrails app on my phone? It’s great as a confirmation I’m on track, but GPS sucks battery. I think I will be running for 5 hours. Can my phone handle that? Shouldn’t I just try it anyway, as a test for the ultra runs I am planning to run later this year?
Sleep on the toilet?
Last, but not least, should I sleep in tomorrow? I have had 2 bad nights in a row, because of the pain in my shoulder. Some extra rest would do me good. However, I like to empty my bowels before the run. If I sleep in, there is a chance I miss my moment. Plus getting up earlier, gives me more time to digest breakfast; pancakes with peanut butter.
Okay, let’s walk to the start now, so I know how long that will take me. After that I’ll sit down with a cup of tea for question time. Hopefully, when I go to bed, I’ve got all the answers
