Registration day

This is the important bit; if you've applied to run in the Malta Marathon or Half Marathon you need to come to the Land Rover showroom at Muscat Motors in Gżira today, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., to pick up your race number, timing chip, official T-shirt and other goodies.

Don't be late, but don't be early either. With 500 local runners taking part, expect there to be a queue, but believe me when I say we will do all we can to make the process as quick and painless as possible.

Trust me, you never met a more impatient person than me.

My wife has often heard me say that if I go to heaven and there's a queue, I'll go to the other place. Might as well, just about everyone I know will be down there anyway!

Final week

Okay, it's your first serious long distance event and you want to know how to come to the line fresh. By the way, have you noticed by now that's it's not all just running that's involved in this training business?

Between terms like fartlek, tempo runs and intervals, suddenly there's a whole new vocabulary to get your head around.

Last week, I introduced another running buzzword... tapering. This is the practice of reducing your usual mileage in the final week so your legs regain some zip and spring on race-day.

There are many ways to do this, so don't feel tied to the simple guide I offered last week: Sun. 60 mins easy; Mon. day off; Tue. 3 x 1 mile at HM target race pace (not faster) with a relaxed three-minute jog recovery after each one; Wed. 45 mins easy; Thu. 30 mins easy; Fri. day off; Sat. 20 mins jog; Sun. race day.

On top of all that, here's more new jargon... carbo-loading.

This is an eating regime that is designed to maximally load your running muscles with glycogen in the last few days and is a practice more commonly associated with those running the full marathon than the half marathon (since you need more energy for the longer event).

If you are running the half marathon, I don't recommend this. Instead, starting on Thursday, slightly alter your diet so that you are eating a higher percentage of your total calorie intake as carbohydrates (e.g. wholemeal bread, pasta, pizza, etc).

Not all carbos are your friends however, so be careful not to take too many simple sugars like soft drinks, cakes and biscuits. You should have some knowledge now of what foods worked well for you on your previous Sunday runs, so be guided by your own experience.

However you eat in the final few days, do not come to the startline on an empty stomach with the excuse of being too excited to eat.

The HM starts (prompt) at 10 a.m., so you have plenty time to have a light breakfast at 6:30-6:45 a.m. (perhaps tea, toast and jam... no bacon and eggs!).

Your brain is going to want a good steady dose of blood sugar to allow you to work hard for 21 kilometres, and that can only come from refueling your liver glycogen stores with some breakfast.

Don't skip it in the excitement.

Inspirational snippets

If you have been surrounded by a bunch of naysayers who for weeks have been telling you how crazy you are to train for an HM at your age, let them read the following which I got off the web this week.

• Margaret Davis ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon in 2hrs 42 mins, but could not find her name in the results the next day. The computer software used to time the event flags any suspicious looking times and took her name and time off the results to investigate.

Seems the computer thought there was an error and did not believe an 86-year old woman could run a half marathon that quickly.

Davis's time was correct, however. She began competing at age 79 and was profiled in the March 2008 issue of Runner's World.

Davis was presented with a trophy for winning the Carlsbad HM 80-99 age division and was called "an inspiration" by the race director, who offered a free entry next year. But, first things first. Davis is training for the Pasadena Marathon next month.

• Jean Hirst, a retired teacher, allowed three teenage girls into her car to help her with directions after getting lost on the way to a theatre.

As the girls got out of the car at the theatre, however, one of them ran off down the street with Hirst's handbag.

The 72-year old Hirst suddenly felt 18 again. The adrenaline kicked in and she jumped out the car and raced in pursuit.

The teenager had a head start but Hirst covered 70 metres in about 15 seconds and was within two strides of her when the girl looked over her shoulder and saw Hirst right behind.

Later Hirst explained: "She probably thought I was an easy target but she shouldn't have judged a book by its cover. The look on her face was one of sheer amazement and she just threw my bag aside."

The would-be thief had no way of knowing that as a 17-year-old, Hirst was the Nottinghamshire County Schools 100 yards champion and qualified for the final of All England Schools Championship.

Hirst was later rebuked by her daughter who told her the girl could have had a knife or turned aggressive. Hirst, admitting that she did not think of her own safety, added that the next morning she was stiff all over because she had not had time before her sprint for a good warm up!

See you at registration.

johnwalsh42195@yahoo.it