Marathon Strategy Part 2: The Race

Here we are.... Marathon Eve.

I am bouncing off the walls. Maybe writing a blog entry will calm me down?

Strategies
Strategy 1: Get Inspired
This morning, I went to downtown Richmond to participate in Bart Yasso's pre-race Shake Out Run, which was pretty darn awesome and got me super pumped.

Bart is the CRO (Chief Running Officer) of Runner's World Magazine and basically has the best job on the face of the planet: he gets to travel all around the world meeting, inspiring, and running with people everywhere. Pretty darn awesome. Last night he came to the MTT Pasta Dinner and regaled us with some tales of his adventures. I bought his book and got it autographed because I'm geeky like that.

I'm sure he writes this in everyone's book, but this one is
MINE so I think it is fabulous.

Strategy 2: Just another long run.

Basically, I'm just trying to think of tomorrow as another long run with the Team... just with a lot more people running... and a lot of people watching... and 6.2 miles longer than I've ever run before.

This will be made easier by the fact that a group of us has vowed to start together and hang as long as we can. Of course there is the understanding that in the end it is every man for him or herself, but I'm really hoping we all have a great day and at least some of us make it through the entire marathon and cross that line together.

Additionally, I am wearing an outfit that has already been 20-miler tested and I am taking a small bag of pretzels and candy corn along as my fuel (things that we have been consuming at MTT SAGs all season).

Just another long run.

Strategy 3: Do not go out too fast.

This is the #1 thing that I have heard 57542592420 times from the veterans. I know how easy it is to go out too fast. Luckily in most of the races I have done, I've been able to reign myself in and take it easy the first few miles. Tomorrow, there will be about 8-10 of us all starting together and all making sure that we don't take off like bats out of hell. With that many Pace Police, I think we'll be ok.

Strategy 4: Have fun.

I want to cross the line with a smile on my face, no matter what the clock says. This has been one of the greatest journeys of my life and I want to savor ever minute... aches and pains and all.

Goals:

Those are my four strategies, so now I suppose I should tell you my goal(s).

Being my first marathon, I'm supposed to say that my goal is just to finish. So,

Goal A: Finish... ideally on my feet. 

One of  my biggest fears is that I will have nothing left in me at the very end and I will end up going tumbling across the finish line at the bottom of that hill. So, not only do I want to finish, I want to finish upright.

But me being me, I have a secondary goal.

Goal B: Sub 4:00:00

Yes, I know it's really putting it out there to state this in public, but I'm going to do it. If I don't get the sub 4 I won't be devastated, but if I do manage it, I will be over the moon. Based on my two twenty milers, I think it is within my reach as long as tomorrow goes smoothly.

Goal C: Beat Sarah Palin, who ran a 3:59:36

Because ya know, what runner doesn't  want to say they beat Sarah Palin?

Marathon Strategy Part 1: Getting to the Start

Months of training are behind me and now all that remains is getting myself successfully to the start line by using the next few days to prepare for the crazy thing I'm about to do.

There is an overwhelming amount of advice and strategy out there regarding what to do in the week leading up to a race. I'm trying to just keep it simple and not stray too far from my usual behavior, which is what has gotten me to this point.

1. Don't get sick or hurt.

Airborne is my best friend. I think it's 90% psychological, but I take one chewable a day and have been doing so for a week. I've become one of those crazy hand washing people. Also, if you're sick I'm terribly sorry but I'm not interested in hanging out with you this week.

After hearing all manner of horror stories from my MTT coaches about the calamities that have met past runners, I kind of want to live in a protective bubble this week. These included a girl who thought it would be fun to try to go down an escalator backwards and ended up breaking her ankle and a woman who was cooking and dropped a heavy mixing bowl on her foot, breaking it. Both incidents happened during taper week. Needless to say, I'm trying to be extra cautious... and staying away from escalators.

Finally, I am being a good girl and following the taper plan to the T. No extra miles and no cross training. This isn't proving to be too difficult for me, as I am completely exhausted for no apparent reason. I thought  I was supposed to be bouncing off the walls with excess energy this week, but I'm having the opposite problem and just want to sleep, which is slightly worrying.

2. Hydrate like a boss.

My Camel Bak is my best friend this week and I'm completely refraining from alcohol, though not giving up my coffee.

It's unfortunate that the result of my hydrating is 5485420 trips to the bathroom, which is upstairs at work. I'm probably ruining my legs going up and down the stairs 5485420 times a day!

3. Rest up.

Coach Ed told us all that it's pretty likely that we won't sleep very much the night before the marathon, so it's a good idea to try to get good sleep the rest of the week. Since I've been inexplicably exhausted, this hasn't been much of a problem for me thus far.

4. Beginning 72 hours out, focus on carbs and protein.

I've plotted out my carb loading, which is something that I very strangely have not been looking forward to. Marathon training has had the opposite effect on my diet from most people, I think. Instead of eating more carbs than before, I have been eating less, for the most part. The prospect of making 70% of my food intake simple carbs for 72 hours is daunting.

My plan is pretty simple: pasta, pasta, steak & baked potato, and more pasta. I've also stocked up runner-friendly snacks like hard boiled eggs and almonds.

5. Minimize stress.

I'm picking up my bib number and race packet on Thursday on the first day of the expo.

I took off from work on Friday so I can spend the day resting and fueling properly.

Finally, months ago I booked a hotel room just 3 blocks from the race start. My dirty little secret is that I don't live in Richmond proper, but 45 minutes away. Race day arrival is always one of the most stressful parts of any race, so I wanted to eliminate that stress completely. Hence the hotel room. For me, race day arrival will consist of rolling out of bed, getting dressed, and hanging out in the warmth of my hotel room before meeting up with Team Navy and walking to the start.

6. Don't forget anything.

As a Planny McPlannerston, lists have also been something that I love. Naturally, I am making a packing list of everything that I need for the morning of the race, the race itself, for the bag that Husband will be responsible for having at the finish, and for the first hours post-race (which will be spent in Richmond).

Is it weird that I have an entire bag of food packed for the less-than-24-hours I'll be in the hotel?

7. Don't freak out.

Any advice on how to not do this?

Richmond Marathon Training Take 2 - Week 23

Here it is, my last full week of training.

3 runs for 19.7 miles
1 mile swim

Running miles logged so far: 550.7

Training highlights:

• Wednesday's run was, without a doubt, the most wonderful outing of the entire training cycle. I still get goosebumps when I think about it.

Training lowlights:

• Saturday was the last training run with my MTT teammates. Making matters even worse, poor Theresa was feeling under the weather and couldn't make it. The run itself turned out to be a good one, but it was definitely bittersweet. For the record, it DID take me longer to figure out the route than it took us to run it... we did 8 miles in a blazing 1:04 minutes; I worked on figuring out the route for half the day. And I didn't even get all of it right.

• I've been having on and off back pain for about a month now. It's the lower left quadrant of my back and it has been a kind of nagging thing for a long time (from before I became a crazy runner). It was doing better since we got into November but then flared up big time on Friday. Because I don't have anything else to blame, I'm going to say that it is swimming that is causing it and therefore I am finished with swimming until after the marathon.

Gold star of the week:

• Greg, for coming up with Wednesday's spectacular route.

So... plans for the upcoming week are pretty simple. 

Don't freak out.