I’ve pushed myself. 

My body is prepared. 

My mind is prepared. 

That’s what the key workouts were for. 

These are all things I need to remember on race day. I’ve been really anxious about the race for a week or so and it just needs to stop. When I’m nervous for something, I have a hard time enjoying the rest of the stuff in my life. Whether it’s being nervous about a race, something health related, a work event, anything- when I get anxious, it wins and I’m trying really hard to not let it.

• Run with a grateful heart

• Be thankful for the opportunity to do what I love 

• Be excited about the new goal I CAN accomplish

• Run Happy 

• Run with Confidence 

• Be Encouraging to other Runners

• Pick someone to pray for every 2-3 miles

• Think about those who have overcome much more than I to get to the start line

• Thank Volunteers- whether it’s a verbal thank you, a smile or a head nod

• Think about new goals (1st triathlon on deck) & how exciting it will be to pursue those once this goal is accomplished 

• Visualize the finish line and how it will feel- always visualize the finish line

• And when the finish line seems really far away- get in the moment and work on the mile or stretch I’m on at that time.

My race plan is to warm up for the first 3-4 miles and get into my groove. If I run smart, strong and listen to my body, I hope to be able to finish the last 5K-10K hard. 

Last longish run before Shamrock on the monon.

We took advantage of the awesome weather today and Glenn rode his bike while I pushed the stroller for my last 10 miler. We ran around 8 minute miles most of the time- I felt pretty good and chill but am glad race weekend is next weekend, because there’s a reason for that last taper week.

I was also able to get a massage today- used a gift certificate I’ve been waiting to use since May! I figured I might as well really treat my body good. I have to say though- this lady put the hurt on, and went a little crazy on my neck, which now hurts when I look to the right. It feels like I slept on it wrong or something. Annoying, but whatever.

We are heading out Friday and driving to D.C. to see my sister and her fiance. Saturday morning, we’ll get up and head over to VA Beach for the race. Race day is Sunday and call me crazy, but we are driving home 12 hours right after the race.

Marshall is staying home and Grandparents are taking care of him. I’ve left him overnight a few times, but never without him being with Glenn. I know he’ll be in the best possible hands, and it will be great for us to get out on our own, but I’ll be anxious to get home to his sweet cheeks.

In November, four months post baby, I ran the Monumental Marathon, knowing it probably wouldn’t be a record breaking day. I did let the thought creep into my head a time or two that I was tougher than before and maybe I could sneak in a little PR. (didn’t happen, and I don’t even want to talk about the miserableness of the second half of that race)

Four weeks later I ran Rehoboth Beach Marathon. Although it was not a PR, it was the best marathon I’ve ever ran. My goal for the race was to have a realistic race strategy and run a negative split. A PR wouldn’t have meant much to me if I didn’t learn the value of being mentally tough and calculated about the race. I needed that race to teach myself discipline and belief that if I would stick with a plan and I put the work in, I could get it done successfully. There isn’t just one right way or one wrong way to race, but there are many smart ways and not so smart ways. I needed to teach myself how to race smart.

Now that that’s happened- now is when the PR is going to be meaningful and it’s going to make sense. I’m sure that I have a PR in me regardless of how I run the marathon, but I don’t want to be on the strugglebus for the entire last 6 miles of the race. YES, if I am racing to my fullest potential, the last 6 miles will hurt, but they don’t have to hurt in a hopeless way.

The ultimate goal is a big PR at the Shamrock Marathon- two weeks from tomorrow. This is perhaps the longest training cycle I’ve ever done for a marathon and most certainly the hardest I’ve ever worked. 

This past week has been my first of three taper weeks, I will finish the week running 38 miles, a far cry from the 60 I ran last week. Part of me thinks it’s too low, but I’ve still had two intense runs and I just missed a couple of miles here and there. (Tired legs, crying baby, not willing to run after baby’s down)

I know I need to believe in the taper, but like my doubts during the recovery weeks, it’s hard to imagine running so fast for so long when 8 minute miles for 6 miles seems kind of long on days like today.

What I need to remember- right now my legs are tired, because I just trained hella crazy for 16 weeks. I’m tapering so I can use all that built up training for game day. In two weeks. The work is done, and the waiting game continues for two more weeks.

I’m so excited to see what I can put out there, but can’t help but feeling crazy nervous. A run is a run. I’m confident that on last week’s 20 miler, I could have finished 26.2 at the pace I had ran for the 20… which if I did that would bring me a big PR. BUT, I honestly hope I can bring more to the table than that. Surely I can RACE 26.2 on tapered legs faster than I can run 20 on non-tapered legs during a training run. On the last two miles of the 20, when I wanted to speed up (even though it did hurt) to finish strong, I reminded myself, this isn’t the race. Save it for the race. Guess we’ll just to see what I bring to the table. Hoping for confidence, strength and power.