Well, the race is tomorrow.

I can't believe that it's already here. I've trained for 180 days for tomorrow.  The goal was always the marathon, yet it's seemed almost like an abstract date in the future that won't ever actually be tomorrow. Yet here it is. We picked up our packets this morning. I laid out my clothes 2 days ago (lol):

I pinned my bib to my shirt. I have bib holders on my spibelt, but unless I want the bib on the side or right over my quads, I'll need it pinned to my shirt. I'm wearing some red Ascics armwarmers in honor of the Boston marathon bombing victims.

I'm pretty nervous. I think I'll be ok once I start running. I know how to do the running-it's everything else that scares me. There were so many people at the expo that my anxiety level went through the roof, and tomorrow will be just as crowded. There are over 10,000 half marathon runners and 3500 full marathoners, and we'll all line up together tomorrow morning. I'm going to line up as close to the back as I can get. Maybe if I hang out with some slower people, it'll help keep me from running the first few miles too fast. My first mile in the SoS half was a 9 min mile, which is 3 mins faster than my regular pace. I'd like to try to avoid doing that tomorrow. 

I sort of failed at the taper in terms of cross training, but I haven't run since last Tuesday. My last workouts were on Wednesday, where I did kickboxing, leg day in weights, and then spin. I never went beyond a 2 in resistance in spin though, and didn't even break a sweat. I decided to skip the last 2 runs (3 on Wed, 2 on Thurs) because my left shin has been grumpy. My last run (4 miles on Tues) was sort of painful. It could have been the compression sleeves though-they feel like they've been hurting more than helping over the past few times I've worn them. I did go to weights yesterday, but I was sure to wear clothes that I absolutely couldn't work out in (nice jeans and a handknit cashmere sweater), and I wore my glasses. I can't work out in my glasses. They'd fall off at the slightest bit of jumping or sweatiness. I folded towels for the entire 30 minutes of the workout, while they did a super intense arm workout. I cheered/trash talked from the sidelines lol.

I have drank so much water over the past few days. I don't think I could drink much more. We ate spaghetti with newman's own marinara sauce and some meatballs for a carb-loading meal.

This will be on my car by tomorrow night:

In case anyone needed further proof that I am addicted to working out and endorphins, I start training on Wednesday for the Mud Factor Run on June 8. My trainer is going to focus heavily on my upper body strength. She said I could have Monday off, but only Monday. lol. I'm going to try not to run for at least an entire week. My shins need the break. Hopefully I can ease back into it after that.

Great white shark in an innocent happy clown fish body. That's me, apparently.

Yesterday I ran my last long run of marathon training.  The 8 mile run was a bit painful, as my shins have decided to be grumpy again. I've been icing the left one especially. I think that it's partially psychosomatic, because I didn't work out at all on Friday or Saturday, so one little 8 mile run shouldn't have much of an impact. Here I am before yesterday's run:

I wore my marathon shirt :D It's very bright lol.

My husband and I drove the marathon route yesterday. It took us quite a while; over an hour. I guess I didn't really think the course would be that long, but I can do it. I just have to focus on moderating my pace. I'm a little worried that I'll run too fast and wear myself out quickly. In the SoS half, my first mile was a 9 minute mile because I was so excited. That's roughly 3-4 minutes faster than my normal pace, and I'm running slower now than I did then because of the angry shin. Hopefully I won't give in to the adrenaline and can at least hold myself at a 12 min pace. The hills on the course aren't too bad-there is one bridge that looks terrifying because it seems almost straight up, but it's 2-3 miles in, and is therefore over quickly. The rest are manageable. There's one stretch of the course where they are doing construction on the road, and the part that we'd run on is very rough. The concrete is literally crumbling, and it was hard to drive on. I really hope that they fix that before Sunday. If they don't, I'm going to walk that portion.

Last week I had full-fledged taper madness going on. My anxiety level was through the roof, and I compensated by working out. A lot. After the 12 mile run on the 13th, I did a leg workout. I did spin before lifting weights on Monday, the 15th. I did another leg workout on Tuesday after I ran 7 miles. Then on Wednesday, I did a full leg day (kickboxing, leg day in weights, ran 3 miles, and spin). All of that was probably a mistake (as my shin is reminding me), but I needed it for the mental health. Working out was the only thing that made me feel better. I ran 3 slow miles on Thursday and then didn't work out again until my run yesterday. I feel much calmer (and more rational) now. I was all prepared to go lift weights this Friday, just to take the anxiety edge off. Now I think I'll still go, but I'll just sit there and chat while they lift weights and I fold towels. I'm still going to go to kickboxing and leg day on Wednesday, but I'll modify the exercise so that I'm not really doing much. A week from now, I'll be able to say that I'm a marathoner. :D

Oh, and my gym Coast 2 Coast Fitness Challenge team won! We reached 3000 miles about 2 weeks ago. I'm super excited to be a part of the winning team, even though my team members were a little crazy with their competitiveness. Need an example? I sent an email on Monday of the week before we won, saying that we were almost there and how exciting that was. The team captain sent back a reply saying that my ferocity surprised him. He called me, and I quote: "a great white shark in an innocent happy clown fish body. You are smelling blood and want to viciously bite off the legs off of the poor Weapons of Mass Reduction surfers while they are just now content to catch a wave once in a while." All I said was "yay we're almost there," and he got vicious competitor destruction from my email. See? They're crazy. And I want to make a shirt that says great white shark in an innocent happy clown fish body.

Less than 2 weeks left!

The OKC Memorial Marathon is 2 weeks from yesterday. I'm pretty excited, and a little bit nervous. I'm pretty confident that I can do it, but I'm not sure if that's confidence or if I'm simply naive. I don't think it'll be easy, but if I can control my pace, then I'll be just fine. My bff and I have decided to run the race separately. She will do the early start, and I will do the regular start. We'll run a few miles together when I catch up to her, and then I'll wait for her at the finish line. So plans have changed just a bit, but if I can just be mindful of my pace, I'll be ok.

I have always had a problem with my face turning red easily. It happens fairly frequently when I work out, especially if we get my heart rate up for a long period of time. A couple of months ago, I puked after a workout. We actually had to stop it. My trainer said that it was obvious that there was a problem when my face went from my normal beet red to white. My head was pounding and I couldn't hear because my ears were throbbing. And then I puked. Fun times. Last week I did kickboxing before weights, and my face reached an epic shade of red. I actually matched my hot pink under armour tank.

It took a few hours to fade lol. I don't know if this is always going to happen, or if it means that I need to work on my cardio more? All I know is that I am required to wear my HRM at all times when working out with my trainer. I'm ok if my head pounds, but I need to stop and get my heart rate down if my ears throb.

My trainer's boot camp class is going to sign up for a mud factor run in June. I'm not in her boot camp class because of my work schedule, but I am super thrilled to be included! It's going to be so much fun. I can barely wait! We're going to work on getting ready for it after I've recovered from the marathon (hopefully the next day lol). Last week made a year since I started working out. Here is a pic of me last June at the kayak/5K, and then a pic of my arms after weights today.

I think I'm making some progress. I look forward to making a lot more.

Finally, today was the Boston Marathon. I excitedly watched the elite races this morning at my desk, and went on with my day. When I got back from lifting weights, the news was reporting bombs going off at the finish line. The details are still a bit confused, but my thoughts are with the runners, their families, the victims, and everyone involved. It's just horrible, and not a place you'd expect something like this to happen. I'm horrified. The OKC marathon folks have announced that there will be tighter security measures, and so far they haven't canceled the race or anything.