26.2 - The Final Week

As I sit here writing this, one week from now, I will be about 3 hours into my first marathon. I am sitting here thinking, where did the last 18 weeks go? It seems like yesterday that Glenn sent me the marathon training plan that I would follow, boy time sure flies.

Yesterday, before my last long run with Coach Craig and the SRLA kids, I told him, I couldn't wait to get the marathon over with and move on with my life. He told me I was approaching it the wrong way and that I should enjoy my first marathon. After thinking about it for a while...he's right, I want to enjoy all of the aspects of this marathon from the expo, lining up in the "mosh pit" as Chris put it, all of the sights along the way and particularly...crossing the finish line! I have worked hard for this, I have overcome a serious injury and now I need to focus and enjoy this experience.

This week's schedule has just a few runs of a couple of miles and some rest days. I will focus on preparing mentally for the race this week. I will put together a nutrition strategy for the race as well as my pre-race plans on race morning. I will try and get extra rest each night and start to add extra carbs to each meal this week.

Yesterday, we did an 8 mile run, which I made a tempo run (1:13:39/ 9:12 mi) out of it. Today, I did an easy 4 mile run with the first 2 miles at my marathon starting pace (12:00 mi) and the last 2 miles at a bit faster pace (11:00 mi). Physically and mentally, I think I am prepared for this task...we'll find out in 7 days.