2 Days. 2 Days.

2.  That's how many days are left until I run another marathon. And only 1 day until I'm Duluth bound.  I can't believe it's here.  It seemed so far off for so long and now it's here.  {takes deep breathe}

I was feeling pretty good about the race - no crazy nerves, taper was going fine... And then it all hit me yesterday.  I was printing out some race info and all of the sudden I was FREAKING out.  How does that happen so quickly?

I am definitely getting nervous, but it's a good nervous with some excitement thrown in.  Not like the "what the h*ll was I thinking" nervousness that plagued me for weeks leading up to Dopey (remember that?  Not fun).

I'm been trying to think positive all week and focus on all my good workouts from the past couple of months.  Those include workouts that went according to plan and ones that I struggled with but pushed on.  So much of the marathon is mental that I like to remember making it through the crappy workouts.

I also re-read my Disney World Marathon recap because that race really did go well and I think remembering that I can run 26.2 and feel good during it is important.

I'm also trying to remember to trust my training.  I have put in a lot of hard work this training cycle and I need to remember that.  I did tally it up and as of today, I ran 498 miles in training for Grandma's.  This included a couple of down weeks when my body needed the break.  For a comparison, I ran 499 miles for Dopey and that was for 4 races.  This is just 1 race.  I've got a solid base and lots of speedwork in the bank. I know hard work pays off - I saw it first hand at Nike DC.

So the final countdown is on.  Wish me luck!

Philly Tri!

I finished the Philly tri this weekend! YAY! I am beyond excited to have finished and am pretty happy with my time as well. It was a ton of fun. I was a little nervous going into it (as it was my first), but not as nervous as I was before my first marathon. I went down on Saturday afternoon with some friends from Terrier. Upon arriving, we went straight to the "expo" to pick up our numbers. Got our numbers and went and checked out transition. Then, we went back to the hotel, checked in and chilled for a bit before dinner. We had a Terrier team dinner (which was a ton of fun!) and then it was back to the hotel. Since I had to get up at 4am the next morning, I was in bed by 9pm.

The race started at 7am on Sunday. I was in the 4th swim wave. The swim went well. The water was very nice - not too cold. After the swim, it was time to bike. The bike was 2 loops of the same course. The course was definitely very technical with a couple of steep climbs, but by the second loop I was able to anticipate them better. Then it was time for the run. I had a rough T2 - I got a little confused coming off the bike. Kinda forgot what I was supposed to be doing, lol. The run went well. I was definitely drained, but was still able to run a 9:00 pace.

All in all, I was very excited for the race. Spoke with Coach Josh yesterday and he was really pleased with my time, (especially since he didn't taper me at all). Now just the half-ironman in August!!!

Times for Sunday are below:
Swim (.93 miles) - 30:51
T1 - 2:57
Bike (24.5 miles) - 1:30:03 (16.5 MPH)
T2 - 2:15
Run: 55:48 (9:00 pace)

Total: 3:01:55

Disney in 4 days!

Disney is in 4 days. YAY YAY YAY! I am super excited :) Anyways, ran 8 miles this weekend (easy since it's technically a taper week).

Weekend run

Went for a short run this weekend. Looked like the weather was going to be crappy - it was pouring here Friday night and freezing. But by Saturday morning, it has stopped raining, but was still cold. Went for a quick 5 miles run. Less than a week to Philly! This week is all about the taper. And lots of stretching. So excited to eat lots of food at Thanksgiving, which conviently falls 4 days after philly :)

Weeknd Run

This is the last long run before the marathon (which is in 9 days, holy crap!). We'll be running about 6 miles. As of now, the weather looks like it may be crappy (rainy or potentially snowy!), so if it is, I will probably run on the treadmill. I'm feeling like I have a cold coming on and can't risk running outside in that kind of weather.

If you're interested in learning more about the half-ironman, check out: www.timbermantri.com
It'll tell you all about the event I'll be doing :)

Tuesday Workout

Last night was our last "hard" workout before the marathon. We have already begun to taper. It was fairly simple last night - 3 lower loops, 2 at tempo, third on faster. I actually only ended up doing 2 loops. I was feeling like I was getting a cold, so i decided to take it easy as not to wear myself out and actually get sick.

Less then 1 week!

OMG - the marathon is in 6 days. I can't believe its here already. All season it seemed super far away and now its here. YAY.

This week is all about the taper and relaxing. No working out this week. 40 min run on Tuesday and 30 mins on Thursday and that's it.

This past week we ran for 50 mins along the westside highway. The weather was gorgeous and perfect for a run. People running long had a great day for it.

Weekend taper

This weekend will be doing a nice short run of approximately 6 miles. The weather should be gorgeous and perfect for a nice run. Chicago is an (almost) a week! Woohoo!

Yay for tapering

Yay for tapering. Last night we did a nice easy run of 4 miles. Took it easy. Not running today because of tapering. Running less this week then normal and even less next week. Can't believe the race is already here!

Weekend run

Was in Cape Cod this weekend for a wedding, so ran there. Since the race is less then 2 weeks away, we are beginning to taper. Ran about 11 miles. We ran on this bikepath that was gorgeous. Ran along the beach for part of it. Beautiful run and nice way to see Cape Cod.

Tonight is send-off. We'll get last minute details as well as the rest of our flight information and such. So soon!

Pacing

Last night we continued to focus on pacing (something I was not so good at during my last marathon). We started at Bethesda and ran up East drive, across 102 and down the West side for 30 mins. Then we turned around and ran back pushing ourselves a bit. I managed to run back faster then I ran there (which is good). Ran just over 6 miles total.

Spoke with Coach Ramon about this weekends training run. Wasn't sure if I needed to run long again or if I should begin to taper (taper is when you start running easier to prep your body for marathon day). While my mileage will go down, I don't actually get to taper. According to Ramon, I need to run 14 miles on Saturday: 6 very easy and 8 hard. Making sure to push myself on the last 8 is key. Weather should be in the 40's on Saturday, making it great running weather.