Countdown to MCM - ONE WEEK!

My brain is a MESS right now.

The Marine Corps Marathon, our first marathon, is one week away!  Throughout training I have been calm, confident and ready….until this week.  The week started with the possibility that MCM could be cancelled if the government didn’t get it together.  I had a backup plan in place, but I’m SO glad I didn’t have to execute a backup plan and train for ANOTHER 3-4 weeks.  Good news,  but take the good with the bad…I had to take it much easier than anticipated this week as I could feel the onset of some old injuries, mainly a pain in the outside of my foot.  Instead of the scheduled 49 miles this week (ending today), I completed about 30.  I cut one “SOS” run short and replaced the other with a long cardio lift session due to a sore foot.  Today’s easy 8.5 mile GADGET FREE run felt fabulous! It was such a beautiful day, hard not to just appreciate the fact that I was able to be out there running!  Today really turned around all the negative thoughts from earlier this week – my foot felt good, my body felt good and my mind felt great!

PERFECT fall day - beautiful run!

It’s the down time this coming week that I have to make sure doesn’t get the best of me.  “Am I going to run the time I want? What time do I even want to run anyways? Am I going to get hurt? Is my foot going to bother me on race day? Will I be too hot? Will I be too cold? Will I bonk? No, I won't bonk, I have a nutrition plan...right? It’s unrealistic to think I can break 9’s, but I really want to break 9’s…My tempo runs have been ~8:10-8:20, maybe I’ll BQ, no I won’t BQ I’m crazy to think that’s possible on my first marathon, but maybe… I’ll just be happy to finish right? But what if it’s a ‘bad’ time? Hanson's marathon method prepared me well, right?” Like I said…my brain is a mess and that doesn't even include my "I need to figure out off-season training plan for IMLP" thoughts!!  The list of all the “thoughts” is endless.  What I have to remember is the ultimate goal is to finish strong, whether that is running 9’s or 10’s or 8’s.  

So, the goal of this week will be: “Keep calm and taper on!” Despite my mind trying to psych me out, I am extremely excited to conquer my first marathon, to surprise myself with a good time (fingers crossed!), and to hug my hubby at the finish line because he always beats me there and he's always cheering me into the finish (I think he is going to surprise himself with an AMAZING time!)!  See you at the finish line! :)