3 days to go...sort of

Survivor...awwwww yeahhhhh

Yes, yes I know I was supposed to post this on Friday but I fell asleep before I got a chance to.

Having woken up at 2pm on Thursday Irish time (6am in Vegas) I packed and boarded my flight to Chicago before connecting to Dublin. Everything was going fine until that flight took to the sky.

Then some git in seat 36A, the row behind mine, with a Northern accent decided to talk loudly for the entire flight home. What sort of git (this is a family blog so I'd best watch my language) actually talks on a redeye? I have a loud voice, I realise this so I don't talk on night flights ever.

But no, some people feel that their views on President Bush and God knows what else are so important that they have to spend the entire night telling it to his buddy next to him. On a flight with no earplugs this is cruel and unusual punishment, especially when some of us have to go straight into work afterwards.

So after doing my shift in ENN I finally got to bed around 6pm yesterday, roughly 28 hours after I got up previously. Not the most ideal prep for Monday.

4 days to go

Happy St Crispin's day

The weather in Vegas has been lovely and warm. I pray it isn't the same come Monday in Dublin.

Whether you're a World class runner or a charity stroller the conditions on raceday will have an impact. Last year was perfect. Another cold dry day like that would be ideal for this year's marathon.

If it rains I'll be ok though I'll be sick as dog when I go to the Chinese embassy the next morning to sort out the visa for my trip there. For Gareth it'll be a much worse as an injured ankle tends not to blend well with slippy roads so I hope it stays dry lest he hurt himself further.

The nightmare scenario for John and I is a warm day. Both of us bake quickly in the heat and what little energy we have will go fast.

5 days to go

I don't know if it's actually in any way beneficial but damn that trip to the spa felt good. Being a rather fancy hotel the Mandalay Bay has a rather pleasant spa. The sauna and steam room felt most refreshing, as did the cold pool though it was nowhere near as pleasant for obvious reasons.

I spent about an hour and a half there today and feel really refreshed afterwards. With a transatlantic flight at 11.20 tomorrow, meaning I've to be in the airport for 9.20, this was realistically the last chance I had to get some chill out time before I come home but it did a damn fine job.

6 days to go

Mr T gives his prediction for the marathon

Damn those new shoes I bought were a bad idea. My new black shoes, which I wore for the first time yesterday, proved to be too tight. The end result was that I have now got a couple of nasty blisters and have resorted to wearing sandals in order to give my feet every chance to recover.

My efforts at carbo-loading this week have also hit a slight snag as my meals to date have consisted of protein, protein and more protein. I'll have to change that soon. Marathon prep aside Vegas has been fun so far. I walked down the strip yesterday as far as the Bellagio fountains, which many of you will have seen in Ocean's 13.

7 days to go

I've arrived in Las Vegas and while it may not be the ideal place to prepare for a marathon in just one's week's time the creature comforts should mean I won't get too wrecked. I've a room with two double beds and a big plasma TV. Nice.

I'm reliably informed that this place has both a gym and spa. It's the Mandalay Bay, of course it does. So I'm going to hunt them down later today. Until then I'll leave you with The King.

Making the most out of the circumstances

Jeff 'The Dude' Dowd and Emmet at Lebowski Fest 2007 in LA

Many of you will soon receive my latest travel email covering my recent holiday in LA, from which I returned today. The combination of that trip plus a working gig out in Las Vegas from Sunday through Thursday is not the ideal way to build up for a marathon, especially as I'll line up for the race the Monday after I return from Vegas.

Now don't get me wrong I look forward to this forthcoming trip and thoroughly enjoyed my time in LA but it would be remiss of me to not try and at least slightly counterbalance the clear impact these trips will have on my preparations.

The heat in LA and the prospect of good weather in Vegas will hopefully do some good. With the rather frightening prospect of a warm weather marathon on the cards, a nightmare scenario for a big guy like me, but potentially erratic weather between now and race day in Ireland I can at least guarantee that it'll be nothing I haven't been used to in the weeks building up to the race as I'll have been spending time in a warmer climate. I'll explain the kind of conditions that the STIG team will be praying on raceday later this week.

Don't miss: STIG for CF Ireland will be making a huge announcement on this very blog tomorrow. Stay tuned.