I will finish the marathon.
I will run the distance comfortably.
I will love the sights, sounds, feelings and camaraderie of running 26.2 miles.
Those guidelines will guide me through the race successfully. There are only a few days left and I feel like a horse at the starting gate… just let me run already! Physically, I am ready as I will ever be. My body has recovered from the last of the long training runs and has been maintained though tapering the last couple weeks. After a couple easy three mile runs this week, the rest of my physical work will be nutritional – lots of complex carbs and water,
while avoiding the urge overeat and take in too many calories. Staples this week include pasta, fruit, vegetables, and whole grain breads. I aim to get a solid nine hours of sleep every night as well, while preparing to get up by 5:00 AM or so on race day.
Meanwhile, I am trying to piece together the run and work on techniques to stay relaxed early in the race, and stay motivated and energetic late in the race. A positive mindset will carry my body the last six or eight miles. It also helped to drive the race route, allowing me to visualize various areas of the course as I run the race in my head.
Another part of my mental preparation is ensuring that I have everything ready for race day. I want to avoid stressing over supplies, clothing and in the case of the Detroit Free Press Marathon, my passport. The latter is required in order to run the six miles portion in Windsor, Ontario. I have made myself a checklist to follow which will help keep me organized as I pack things together.
I am truly looking forward to reaching one of the biggest goals I will ever set for myself: running a marathon, something only 1% of people will achieve in their lifetime. Harkening back to my first post here, “sedit qui timuit ne non succederet”. I will not sit still for fear of failure.
