Sunday, February 27, 2011

ready for a breakthrough?!

yesterday was the last long run - 10 miles - before race day. i ended the week today with a very easy 3 miler and a .75 mile walk. the good news, the run today felt better than pretty much all my sunday runs the day after a long run. sure i only ran 10 miles yesterday, and i kept the pace more conservative since i'm a week out, BUT it really does help the confidence. the bad part was it felt gross out - warm, humid, and extremely windy.

this week will be nothing more than to keep the legs in tune, but mostly i need to focus on my nutrition, hydration and avoiding anything silly to get myself injured. i don't want to gain anything beyond the normal taper weight gain, meaning more than a couple of pounds. and i certainly hope i don't gain that all in 1 week!

i will be traveling to albany with 3 really good friends, all great running friends. two i have known for years, one of them being a steady running buddy for the last 6 years and the other a true source of inspiration and motivation. and the other is a new running friend who has become a steady running partner and great friend. it will be great to ward off the jitters by having 3 of my favorite people with me. yesterday, one of these friends texted the rest of us saying in one week, we'll be celebrating 4 great races. i reminded her that i would need lots of help keeping calm and shaking off the nerves. she assured me she would and told me that i was ready and this was going to be a breakthrough race for me. she knows it's been 4 years since a PR and during these last 4 years i've had LOTS of ups and downs. i needed to hear that.
i'm really looking forward to the trip, not just for the race, but to get away with 3 good friends and share lots of laughs, but more importantly to share in the celebration. it will be good for me to share the trip, pre-race meals and routines with 3 other runners who i know and trust.. i can count on them to make me laugh and enjoy the moments. the best part is, we get to celebrate together. i love celebrating with runner friends. we can laugh at each other when we moan just from getting up or when we need help stepping off a curb. we won't laugh at each other when we eat everything in sight and look for more.

my favorite part of this trip, and i am so not kidding, is when i'll eat more than one of these!!!! hey, it is the SNICKERS marathon!!!

2 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for so many reasons. I'm excited you are back to blogging - I enjoy reading it, I'm excited about our trip, and I'm excited that your passion has returned.

    Nothing left to do this week except, "get our mind right" We ARE Ready!

    Good training is "in the bank" (as James says)

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  2. Good luck. Hold off on the candy until race day and then let em have it!

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