1.5 weeks to go!

Wow… that’s crazy! I’m starting to get really excited!!

This week will be a 50-60 mile week, and then I’ll taper to 20-27 the week of the marathon. In a way, that’s scary (I’m not strong enough! I haven’t worked hard enough! That’s what I always find myself saying during a taper), but in a way I’m ready. Ready enough to give a good hard effort and see where that gets me, anyway.

Later this week I’ll spend some time re-reading a few good marathoning books, reading up on the pre-marathon carbo load (I think I’m going to try the 3 day no-carb, 3 day all-carb diet, anyone know any good resources?). I’ll also spend time mentally preparing myself for the course (last time I did TCM it was awful, and I still have some bad feeling associated with the race) and fully map out my strategy (negative split? What’s my exact goal finish time? Is it still 2:50?). I’m not sure what my goal time should be, or how I should “plan” to run. Obviously, everything can change once the race starts, but it’s nice to have a defined plan going into the race.

Lots to do!

Although I’ll spend a bit of time on all of this, I also want to make sure I’m not dwelling on the race too much. All of my best races have been in races where I’ve had a light-hearted, positive, no-pressure to perform attitude. I definitely want that. I know this marathon isn’t the end-all, it’s just a test run to see where a solid couple of months of training have gotten me (is that bad grammar? Oh well.). This summer has been a “train to train” cycle, and although it’s made me strong (I’ve probably done more this summer than any other cycle), I feel like I can do so much more! So it’s exciting to be able to race to see where I’m at, but know that I have a lot of upside potential.

Lots more to come on race-prep and getting the legs to feel fresh and fast!!!

P.S. I’m doing a 5k on Saturday — the For Pete’s Sake 5k in Hudson, WI. Not only am I excited to see where my 5k time will be now, but I’m really excited that my MOM AND DAD are going to do it! My mom called me yesterday to see if my registration had been mailed yet. There’s a “family rate”, so it costs the same to register 4 people as it is 2. It hadn’t been picked up from the mail room yet, so I quick ran down and entered the two of them :). I think it’s super fun she asked about it! They did their first 5k in May, and before that my mom had NEVER run. Now she’ll be a seasoned 5ker!

The coolest part is that it’s my Dad’s 52nd birthday the day of the race, and his name is Pete. How cool is it to do the “For Pete’s Sake” 5k?!?! 🙂 🙂 🙂