Savannah Marathon: The (Meltdown?) Countdown Begins

It's a funny thing, training for a marathon. During the long summer months of intervals, tempo runs, and long runs, you kind of lose sight that at some point it's all going to culminate into you having to stand at a start line and face down 26.2 miles. You know in the back of your mind that, "Yeah, I'm doing this training run so someday I can run really fast and be in a lot of pain for a long time while I do it," but the reality of what you're attempting doesn't really sink in until about a week before your race.

It is a week before my race. 

Next Saturday I'll join 22,999 other runners at the start line for the Savannah Rock'N'Roll Marathon/Half-Marathon. As usual, I'm equal parts excited and freaked out. 

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Running When You Don't Feel Like It

I don't want to run today. Not "I don't want to run now," or "I'm tired," or even, "I'm too busy to run." I just quite simply don't want to run. The very thought of even putting on my shoes is crushing. I've told myself that the rain has stopped and the cool temperatures and overcast sky make for ideal running conditions. I've also considered that today's tempo run--while a long one at 8 miles--is only at race pace, so it's not like I have to head out the door and kill myself, trying to hold some God awful 7 minute something pace. 

I'm not having it. I have made up my mind. I. Don't. Want. To. Run. 

Of course, I'll run anyway. It's too late in the week to give myself the day off. I've got 20 miles this Saturday (the LAST 20-miler of the training--WHOO HOO!!) and so I need to take Friday as a rest day. That means that, like it or not, the tempo run is happening today. 

I think of it as a mental toughening. There are some race days where, regardless of the countless hours spent on the road, you line up at the start line and think, "I am not feeling it today." Guess what? Too bad. Run anyway. You may not have a great run, but you will run. 

That's what I'm facing today. I'm not feeling it. It's probably not going to be a good run. I may not make it the entire 8 miles or hold pace but guess what? Today I am running. 

The hardest step is always the first one. Time to go lace up those shoes. 

Update on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:18 PM by Dena Harris

Well now, don't I feel foolish. I ran on the treadmill and had a great run. Only ran 7, but I ran faster than pace and added a 2% incline, so I'll forgive myself the last mile. Once I started, I knew after the first half mile I was going to have a good run. So see, another reason to get out there and run... you never know which days are going to be your good ones. 

Smug Marrieds: Words of Encouragement

Last night at dinner Blair says, "You need to go back and read your blog entry."

"Which one?" I ask. 

"September 19th." 

"Why?"

"Because that's where you talk about finding your new running mantra of 'I don't stop when I'm tired, I stop when I'm finished.'"

"And...?"

"And you didn't do that at Salem Lake."

"Well that's pleasant," I say. "Would you like me to just bend over so you have a better target for when you kick me again?"

"In fact," Blair said, ignorning me, "Your new mantra should be something like (and here he raised his voice to his high-pitched "Dena voice"), 'I don't stop... unless I get kind of tired or out of sorts or it's, like, really hard or maybe I'm having a bad hair day.'" He took a bite of food and smiled at me. 

"What the hell?" I ask. "Did you drink a bottle of mean juice today?"

"I just think you should be careful of false advertising." 

Actually, I thought of that mantra over and over during the Salem Lake run. I also decided around mile 12, pretty much like Blair said, that I was getting myself a new friggin' mantra. I had a few in mind but I think now I'm going to go with something like:

"Run. Just to show the husband he's not right." 

Cheers,

Dena

Switching Up the Workouts

I am a creature of habit. I eat at the same restaurants, watch the same programs, drive the same route, and the first thing I do every morning when I get out of bed is brush my teeth. NO EXCEPTIONS. 

The creature of habit thing serves me well in exercise, at least with marathon training. I've used the exact same program, no deviations, to train for my last 3 marathons, and I've PR'd in each of them. Lately, however, I've felt the need to mix up my routine. 

Why? For one thing, I'm bored. My routine for over two years now has been run 3 days, bike 2 days, weight train 2 days. If I get a wild hair, I throw in a day of yoga. More than that, the days I do each of these exercises has been set in stone. Run T-TH-Sat, bike MW, weight train MW. Can you say "rigid," boys and girls?

So, thanks to marathon training being over (until July) and the magic of groupons, I'm branching out.

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Body Falling Apart? Must Be Time to Race

I'm exactly three weeks out from my marathon. This Sunday is the last (thank you, God) 20-mile run and then we're in a taper. 

Having gone through 13 weeks of training at this point, you would think I'd be in top form. Not at all. Instead, my body is falling apart on me, one piece at a time. 

There's a constant twinge behind my left knee and in the front where the thigh joins the pelvis. My glute muscles are one massive block of tightened coils that refuse to release. My right forearm aches and Thursday morning I pulled a muscle in my lower back. 

Far from being disturbing, all of this indicates that I'm ready to run my race. 

This is my pattern. A few weeks out from a marathon, my poor overworked body puts its foot down and says, "Enough." Everything starts hurting. I start to question if I'm in any shape to run 26.2 miles. 

Now it's just a matter of simple negotiation. I start pleading with my body--begging--to hang on just three more weeks. Just three simple little weeks. Then you can go to pot, with my blessings. In the grand scheme of life, what is three little 'ol weeks?

My body will toy with me, feeling better one day, then the pulled muscle (I expect) will come screaming back the week before the race. That's okay. I'm not freaking out. I know that for whatever reason, this is what my body does. It's a bit of revenge for 16 weeks of speed work and tempo runs. 

I'm doing my part with ass peas and heating pads and I've made an appointment on Monday with my chiropractor to take a look at my back, even though it is feeling much better. 

Three weeks. Hold it together, girl. Just three more weeks.