Last workout is in the books. It all comes down to fuel and rest from here.
Four days away and it can't come soon enough. The waiting game has started.
My mind is fresh and ready to attack the marathon!
Hard to believe a year ago I felt that I was in the worst shape of my life. Coming off of 3 months of traveling and not really getting back into a routine the first month or two back. However, after putting in summer training runs during my one 2 hour break I had for the day at Camp Howard, I started to feel stronger. Then there was the relay race from Philomath to Newport. I wasn't expecting much, less than 2 months into my new running program. But I surprised even myself. I didn't think I would run nearly as well as I did! Then there was my run around Timothy lake. It was my longest run since high school and it felt easy and relaxed. I knew I was on my way to more long runs.
During the cross country season I maintained that strength, but now I had to find a goal, a reason to get even stronger. I had gone back and forth the last few years about when I should run my first marathon. Not that I was putting it off, but I had other running goals in mind and the marathon wasn't quite on that list yet. It was on my mind though. Towards the end of the cross country season, I decided the time has come and I would be stepping up to the marathon for the first time.
Five months later, I am ready to take on the challenge. My legs are fresh and tapered. My mind is fresh and mentally ready to take on the miles. The goals are in place and the focus is there to hit those goals. My body is primed and ready to go to the line. The butterflies are there and I am embracing them.
Ready, Set, Go....
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Preparation
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare"
That quote sits next to my picture in my senior yearbook. It was my quote for the track season. It summed up all the work that was put in during winter training. But preparation is more than the physical workouts that you pull and drag your body through during all the miles of training. It is mental and emotional as well.
The emotional preparation is easy for some and hard for others. The ability to think about the positive and know that if you give your best there is nothing to feel down about. The confidence to know that you will leave it all out there will leave you happy and proud of what you have accomplished. The understanding that the butterflies will come but it's how you deal with them that matter. I always say butterflies are a good thing because it shows you care about what you are about to do. So let's just go do it. I have two weeks for those butterflies to come and when they do I will embrace them knowing that I will give it my all because of them.
The mental preparation is probably my favorite though. During training the mental preparation for a marathoner is to not be scared of the 26.2 miles that are ahead. I'm passed that now. I can run 26.2 miles. However, the race preparation begins now.
I can remember my senior track season. The above quote was sitting in my head, as I sat in Ms. Bromley's Pre-Cal class. I was thinking about the district meet that was 2 weeks away. I was visualizing the meet from the warm-up to the cool-down and what the day would look like. I knew all the athletes that I would be up against. I raced against them for the last 3 years. I knew who had the strong kick, who would take the lead on the first lap, and who would try to go early. Knowing all this, I made my race plan. I would go out conservative(like always). Let the race develop in front of me. The second lap I would move up right behind the leaders. I would sit there. Nothing to be done until 300 meters to go. I know who would go first. The person with the worst kick: David Reid. We would all follow him and get by him on the back stretch. I would move past the Wilsonville boys on the back stretch then I would be on Reed Huskey's shoulder through the turn. Sit there and wait until the 100, where I would sling shot around him off the turn and then put my eyes up on Ryan Horton where I would give it my all to try and catch him for the win.
I told my friend, Matt, this during Pre-Cal. Somehow he still got in trouble for talking, even though I did all the talking that day. I guess I get the benefit of the doubt being quiet the rest of the year. Matt would tell me how he could almost describe my race plan because I told him so many times and so clearly.
Mental preparation is visual. The ability to see what you are about to do and do it over and over again until it gives you the confidence to say "This is what it is. This is what it has to be. Let's go achieve the goal."
My preparation for the marathon starts today. What do my first miles look like? Where do I fuel up? Where are the aid stations? What miles am I going to really push my body through? The more I see it, the more it will happen. The marathon is 2 weeks away. But it starts in my head today.
That quote sits next to my picture in my senior yearbook. It was my quote for the track season. It summed up all the work that was put in during winter training. But preparation is more than the physical workouts that you pull and drag your body through during all the miles of training. It is mental and emotional as well.
The emotional preparation is easy for some and hard for others. The ability to think about the positive and know that if you give your best there is nothing to feel down about. The confidence to know that you will leave it all out there will leave you happy and proud of what you have accomplished. The understanding that the butterflies will come but it's how you deal with them that matter. I always say butterflies are a good thing because it shows you care about what you are about to do. So let's just go do it. I have two weeks for those butterflies to come and when they do I will embrace them knowing that I will give it my all because of them.
The mental preparation is probably my favorite though. During training the mental preparation for a marathoner is to not be scared of the 26.2 miles that are ahead. I'm passed that now. I can run 26.2 miles. However, the race preparation begins now.
I can remember my senior track season. The above quote was sitting in my head, as I sat in Ms. Bromley's Pre-Cal class. I was thinking about the district meet that was 2 weeks away. I was visualizing the meet from the warm-up to the cool-down and what the day would look like. I knew all the athletes that I would be up against. I raced against them for the last 3 years. I knew who had the strong kick, who would take the lead on the first lap, and who would try to go early. Knowing all this, I made my race plan. I would go out conservative(like always). Let the race develop in front of me. The second lap I would move up right behind the leaders. I would sit there. Nothing to be done until 300 meters to go. I know who would go first. The person with the worst kick: David Reid. We would all follow him and get by him on the back stretch. I would move past the Wilsonville boys on the back stretch then I would be on Reed Huskey's shoulder through the turn. Sit there and wait until the 100, where I would sling shot around him off the turn and then put my eyes up on Ryan Horton where I would give it my all to try and catch him for the win.
I told my friend, Matt, this during Pre-Cal. Somehow he still got in trouble for talking, even though I did all the talking that day. I guess I get the benefit of the doubt being quiet the rest of the year. Matt would tell me how he could almost describe my race plan because I told him so many times and so clearly.
Mental preparation is visual. The ability to see what you are about to do and do it over and over again until it gives you the confidence to say "This is what it is. This is what it has to be. Let's go achieve the goal."
My preparation for the marathon starts today. What do my first miles look like? Where do I fuel up? Where are the aid stations? What miles am I going to really push my body through? The more I see it, the more it will happen. The marathon is 2 weeks away. But it starts in my head today.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Marathon training can change a person
I love music. Like most people do. I sing in the car in a traffic jam. I create youtube playlists and blare it on my computer. I use it to help me study and get work done. I'm listening to it right now... The place I rarely have used music (I've only used music twice in five months of marathon training) is on my runs. Each run I go on is always a special time. Whether I am running with a friend and talking about our lives and what is to come. Or I'm running with the team and getting to hear about their crazy high school stories. Or I am by myself and in my own thoughts. Sometimes I still play songs but only by memory in my head, sometimes I think about sports and this blog, sometimes I think about life and where I am going. But more importantly and more recently, runs by myself our my time with God.
Everyone is different. Everyone reaches out to God in different ways. I never feel more close to God than in the 10th mile of an 18 miler. Being surrounded by the wilderness with my legs churning out without any conscious thought. Just hitting the same pace over and over. My lungs feel more open and my breathing is the best it's ever been. The runner's high is just starting to hit a level I've never felt. I start skipping like I haven't just ran 10 miles. This is my time with God. I pray for His strength to guide me on all my runs.
Running so many miles by myself in the last five months, I have been able to strengthen my relationship with God. I have complimented this running journey with God by starting to go back to church as well. This allowed me to think even more deeply about how God wants to use me in life and what purpose He has for me. I am running with God and for God.
Three weeks ago, I found out that I had an upper respiratory infection(walking pneumonia). Something that a marathoner doesn't want...something that affects your breathing. At first I wasn't sure what this meant. Did He not want me to run a marathon yet? Or did He want me to start tapering early because I have put in all the hard work I need? After talking to my running family about what I should do. It was unanimous. I should still go through with the marathon. With so much encouragement to still run the marathon, I knew this was a sign from God that He wanted me to just taper early and come back rested and stronger than ever for the marathon. Now, after a great long run back from the infection, I trust Him more than ever.
I quote this scripture during all my runs now, but in 19 days it is going to help me more than ever!
"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" Phil. 4:13
A song I sing on my long runs:
Forever Reign
"I'm Running to Your Arms"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3sNiYpuF4&list=HL1365528426&shuffle=6519
Everyone is different. Everyone reaches out to God in different ways. I never feel more close to God than in the 10th mile of an 18 miler. Being surrounded by the wilderness with my legs churning out without any conscious thought. Just hitting the same pace over and over. My lungs feel more open and my breathing is the best it's ever been. The runner's high is just starting to hit a level I've never felt. I start skipping like I haven't just ran 10 miles. This is my time with God. I pray for His strength to guide me on all my runs.
Running so many miles by myself in the last five months, I have been able to strengthen my relationship with God. I have complimented this running journey with God by starting to go back to church as well. This allowed me to think even more deeply about how God wants to use me in life and what purpose He has for me. I am running with God and for God.
Three weeks ago, I found out that I had an upper respiratory infection(walking pneumonia). Something that a marathoner doesn't want...something that affects your breathing. At first I wasn't sure what this meant. Did He not want me to run a marathon yet? Or did He want me to start tapering early because I have put in all the hard work I need? After talking to my running family about what I should do. It was unanimous. I should still go through with the marathon. With so much encouragement to still run the marathon, I knew this was a sign from God that He wanted me to just taper early and come back rested and stronger than ever for the marathon. Now, after a great long run back from the infection, I trust Him more than ever.
I quote this scripture during all my runs now, but in 19 days it is going to help me more than ever!
"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" Phil. 4:13
A song I sing on my long runs:
Forever Reign
"I'm Running to Your Arms"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3sNiYpuF4&list=HL1365528426&shuffle=6519
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