Today is the last day of normal life. Well, technically. My 16-week marathon training programs starts tomorrow, so today was my last “freestyle” run before a chart on the wall mandates, between now and November 22nd, how far I’ll be running and when.
The pre-race nerves fluctuate. One day I’m scared spitless. The next day I’m confident I can finish. Remembering how bad my nerves were the night before my first 5k—I think I got 3 hours of sleep, wondering if I had everything I needed—and knowing that now, I sleep like a stone the night before a race, I expect I’ll need to try to go to bed at 8 the day before if I hope to close my eyes by 10. Let’s not forget that I’ll probably have to be at the starting line by 5, as my friends had to do last year. The race starts at 7. I keep telling myself it’ll all be over by 1. God willing and the creek don’t rise, it’ll be over a while before that, but we’ll see.
So as of tonight, all fun ceases. Well, not ALL (Bradley Cooper, call me? 🙂 ) but no more wine. Watch everything I eat. No cheat days. I’m officially in training in a few hours, which is why there’s ice cream in the freezer and a glass of white zinfandel next to me. I’m told if you want to change your body, take up running. If you want to change your life, train for a marathon. We’ll see.
I ran Kelly Drive and MLK Drive this morning, 9.22 miles. I started feeling it at 8 miles, with my feet hurting and my hips aching. All I could think was, “Oh great. I have 3 times this distance to go and I’m tired now? Lovely.” I’d planned on 10 miles but stopped when I got back to the car. But I got some beautiful pictures:
And as luck would have it, I got to the Art Museum and started up the steps, videoing all the way, when “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky came on my iPod. For once, iPod, your timing was excellent. Could’ve been better because I was halfway up the steps at the time, but still, I appreciated it, and I ran around the fountain just to enjoy the moment a little longer. If you’ve never run the Steps or been to Philadelphia, but you wanted to run in Rocky’s footsteps, here you go. Sorry about the heavy breathing. Couldn’t be helped. 😉
Tomorrow it’s official: I’m training for a marathon. I’m scared, excited, anxious, and, well, just hand me the thesaurus. I’m sure I can find more adjectives. 🙂 Here goes everything!
Knit & Run! 
You are awesome, Carla!!! I’m running a bit more lately, but I’m still not brave enough to go for a marathon yet. I’m so proud of you!!!! 🙂
Take your time, Maura! I have no hope of ever being an elite runner; I’m just out there for the fun. My only goal is to beat the street sweepers; everything else is gravy. 🙂 Are you signed up for any races? Even a 5k gives you a goal to shoot for, and once you’ve done a few, you’ll want to challenge yourself to do longer distances! After my first half, I left the race medal on my dining room table, and every time I saw it, I giggled thinking, “I did that. I really did that.” After the marathon, I’ll probably be hysterical for a month. 🙂
I’ve done many 5ks. Did one in June as a matter of fact. And there’s one in September I’m planning to do, also. I did do a half marathon down at Disney World a few years ago. I ran the first three or four miles than alternated walking/running the rest. Took me a little over two hours, but all the Disney characters were scattered along the course cheering us on so it was more about having fun than it was about any kind of personal best. I think I’m going to start scouting around for some five mile races. I’ll see how I do with those for a start. In the meantime, you will continue to be a source of wonderful inspiration. I will be celebrating your marathon success for a month right along with you!! 🙂