We're heading like a train towards marathon season, so we've pulled together 26.2 tips to help you navigate your way to race day.

Four weeks to go 🧷🧷🧷🧷

1. Practise wearing your kit on longer runs - if it chafes, now's the time to find out.
2. Review your training log. Remind yourself of the effort you've put in to get here.
3. Plan your pace - try this amazing predictor on Fetcheveryone.com.
4. Book a sports massage - get those muscles ironed and book one for a few days after the race.
5. Practise your race fuelling... jelly babies, gels, roast potatoes or marmite sandwiches 😋 - whatever it is make sure it agrees with you on those long runs.
6. Begin assembling your safety pin stash.

Two weeks to go 🧷🧷

7. Organise your supporters. Work out when you'll see them, and what they need to give you. And the things they should say!
8. Support your organiser. Make sure you read the race instructions thoroughly.
9. Think about your journey to the start. Book tickets and check parking options.
10. Think about your pre-race dinner/breakfast - and practise it around a test run.
11. Plan your kit bag, including contingencies for different conditions and outcomes.
12. Start obsessively checking every weather app and befriend a meteorologist.
13. You should be tapering now - reduce your training volume, avoid snotty friends and children, consider purchasing a hazmat suit. 🦠
14. Plan some very easy days before and after your event to look after your pins.
15. Did someone mention pins? Check that safety pin stash - you can’t be too careful.

One week to go 🧷

16. A few gentle runs to check the legs still canter nicely. It's too late to worry whether you've banked the miles.
17. Tweak the kit for the expected weather - visit the meteorologist you locked in your garden shed for updates.
18. Hydration, hydration, hydration - get that engine purring nicely.
19. Check the safety pin stash... consider armed guards.

The day before 🧘‍♀️

20. Sofa day. Binge watch Star Wars, Bridget Jones or Harry Potter (anything else would be just weird). Employ significant other for piggy backs around the house.
21. Hydrate and load with your practised fuelling.
22. Check your kit, take that kit pic so your friends will recognise you, check it again - and please get those safety pins in place.

The Big Day ⏰

23. Get those guts in order. 💩💩💩
24. You’ve hydrated well in the days before, so drink a small amount until an hour or so before the race.
25. Final wee, join the queue and ignore the bluster from the other runners. Keep your zen, get the butterflies in your stomach into formation.
26. Take a calm and confident walk to the start. Maybe a tiny strut, but save the legs. You're gonna smash this.
27. Above all, it's of the utmost importance that you... [checks watch]... sorry, I make that 26.2 tips. You'll figure it out.