Destination running

 The night before the Dubai marathon, the lovely Debbie (my Kenya running buddy) texted me to ask if I had fire wood and cold pasta. This was what we had to do when we camped the night before the Lewa half marathon. I was so tired at the start of that race, that the finish could not come soon enough.

We all imagine having the perfect, relaxing couple of days before a long race...yeahhh right!

Things not to do before your destination race:

• Don't book flights (for destination races) on cheap, no frills airlines. It is asking for trouble. When there is fog, they are the only airline that seems not to be able to fly. I wonder if it is because their pilots don't have quite enough stripes on their uniform!?
• Don't stay awake in the airport for 8 hours two nights before the marathon. Try to get a good nights sleep, in a bed preferable.
• Don't check in your running gear.  (I carried mine, luckily, as I did lose my luggage and had to make do with the hotel toothbrush and shampoo...but I survived!) Said cheap airline inevitably lost it.
• Don't drink copious amounts of Prosecco the day before the marathon. Keep all corks in bottles until after the race...even if you think arriving in the country of the race is enough reason to celebrate!

Things to do before your destination marathon:

• Check your residency expiry date (for GCC residents). This might save a lot of hassle and teary goodbyes to running buddies at the airport. Don't worry-it all worked out in the end for my running buddy and I.

Last night I signed up for the Bahrain relay marathon (I'm doing 21km). I have checked the weather, booked an expensive and I am only taking carry on luggage!