I'm posting what could be one of the last blogs I write between now and my marathon. I can feel the weirdness creeping in, my stress level has started to rise a little, and honestly, I'm making changes in my running schedule on the fly as I get within a week of the race. First off, I honestly looked at the running I was doing during my taper. The miles were low, but the number of days that I was running was not really going down. For the 2 weeks I was tapering, I was going to run 9 out of 14 days. I decided at the last minute yesterday to take the day off, and while sitting in the hot tub at my gym I sent a text message to Squirrel1.1 asking him how much he was running these 2 weeks, as him and I are running on the same day. Let's just say I think I had too many days in there. Tomorrows 10 miler will be replaced by some yoga and a half hour or so on the exercise bike. Then Monday will be 3 miles. Wednesday probably 4 or 5, then 3 on Friday to make sure all systems are go.
I think I am more nervous now than I was at my first marathon, the expectaions are up for me. Not from others, but from myself. I feel deep down that if I wanted to push this, I could do the Sub 3 hour marathon, but am going to stick to my pace chart and get my BQ hopefully. I'm posting it here for the first time. 3:06. That is the goal time. That is what I am looking to run. I'll try for something grand in Chicago or NY, knowing that if I blow up, I still have my BQ done. I am scared that when I hit mile 20 again that my body will do the same thing that it did to me in Phoenix. That the result could be the same as before, that I may do worse. That I may just not be able to do this. I saw better runners than me put up times in Boston that were higher than my goal time, and that's been a little bit of a reality check this week.
I've had a good weeks running, and can feel my body getting stronger, although I feel like a whale with the eating and not running as much as I'm used to. From a personal standpoint, it's been a tough week in spots, although I did have an awesome night sandwiched in the middle of it. Although a 1:30 bedtime may not be the best thing for someone who's supposed to be resting :-p. As the days tick off for this race, I imagine I'll just continue to get more and more nervous and these posts, if I have time, will get stranger and stranger.
Enjoy your weekend.
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4 comments:
You're in great shape, Aaron. I think your goals for this race are very wise. I wouldn't sweat the details of your taper too much--just get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated, and eat smart in the days ahead.
You had an extraordinary debut and have every reason to believe that you will BQ in just your second race. For the record, it took me four to get there.
Good luck my friend!
You sent a message to Squirrel while sitting in the hot tub? Hmm, why am I not surprised...? :-P
Trust your body, Aaron. I know I can't say anything to take away the nerves or make anything remotely better, but I'll be thinking of you this week.
See you in Boston next April. :-)
Thanks Chooch. I appreciate your advice as always, and you are one of the people I look up to as a runner, and as a person. It's good to see you around RW more these days. Thanks for believing in me as you, and cmmoore, and others do.
Good Luck Aaron, I will try and be 40 mins behind you. I will see you at the start and at the finish. You will reach your goal!
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