Monday: 6.1m easy 8:40/pace

Tuesday: Crossfit, 5.7m 8:47/pace

Oh man. It’s here and i’m getting nervous. I’m ready to run, i’m ready to fly, but I accidentally looked ahead at the weather and…

The weather has been nuts here anyway, it’s been warm and makes it hard for me to try out “race day outfits.” I haven’t been able to practice in much, so i’ll just cross my fingers and Body Glide my entire body and pray i don’t chafe.

I’m trying not to worry too much about the weather. I’ve raced in nothing but terrible wind this year and i’m not backing down from my goals. I’m just going to study the course, understand and accept where the wind might be bad and where I can breathe. And hey, i still have hope the forecast will change a bit, it’s early.

Everything else I can control I feel great about. Mentally i’m ready to take this on. Physically i’ve never felt better. I’ve PR’d the 10k, my outdoor mile time, completed a 50K, a Beer Mile, bested my weekly and monthly mileage and PR’d my deadlift. The key factor here is i’ve been consistent. No setbacks, no sickness, no excuses. I did every workout, hit almost every workout pace and actually enjoyed it. (that helps!)

I listened to a Brute Strength podcast about mental training and the guest said “train today like tomorrow you’re going to have an injury that takes your sport away.” This does not mean kill yourself in your workout exactly — or work until you are injuring yourself or ignoring signs of injury/overtraining. He went on to explain in means living in the moment of your workout, giving everything you can, but making sure to enjoy it. Enjoy the work, because if it was gone tomorrow you’d miss it. Just another element of being present and living with gratitude. Running with that mindset has changed everything.

I had one of those running a-ha moments, the run where training catches up with you and your emotions catch you off guard. I broke down in the middle of a trail, bawling my eyes out. Thank god no one was around, cause it wasn’t pretty. Crocodile tears and hyperventilating type crying was happening. I had only a few thoughts in my head at the moment, none i will share today, but if you run for long enough (i’m at my 10 year anniversary) you will no doubt, have moments like this. I took off my new shirt, for some reason that layer felt suffocating, and on the inside of the shirt was this…

It was perfect. I needed it. And i repeated that phrase the rest of the way home. There is nothing more I can do with my training, mental or physical. I’m as ready as i’ll ever be. Wind or no wind I will take on whatever challenge comes at me Sunday and every day after.

If you’ve been reading along, or encouraging me in the gym, social media or texts, THANK YOU. Sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, it is awesome to have a community of people that support my crazy running hobby. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Last Week

Monday: 8m easy 8:49/pace

Tuesday: Crossfit, 10.4m interval (6 x 1m repeats)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 12.7m tempo (10 @ 7:35/pace)

Friday: 7m easy 8:45/pace

Saturday: 8m easy 9:20/pace, Crossfit

Sunday: 8m easy 8:55/pace

Total Miles: 53.7

How’s the weather near you?

Any last words of advice for the marathon?