Are You Ready?

"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail."  It's a famous quote by John Wooden (1910-2010), an NCAA basketball coach who won an unprecedented 10 national championships for UCLA.  It applies to the sport of running, too.  As a matter of fact, it applies to any sport.  However, I think it hits a beat particularly for running races; and I can speak for the marathon race.  After having run 21 marathons, I have developed a routine for long-term and short-term preparation.  The long term involves the running workouts and the diet.  The short-term covers the little details of bringing the right number of carbohydrate gels, pinning my bib on my running shirt the night before, attaching the timing chip, and remembering to press start on my stopwatch when I cross the start mat, etc.  One can never over-prepare for such an important event as a marathon race.