One week before marathon

So, now the Day X is really approaching. And I just wanted to share what is it like for me to be a week away from the longest race I've ever run.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, it's exciting for sure, and cool knowing that I'm in the best running shape I've ever been. On the other hand, it took a lot.

Lots of effort, discipline, commitment, and oh my gosh, TONS OF TIME!

When I was starting the training program back in July, all the numbers on the plan were... well, just numbers. And because it's my first time training for this distance, I had no clue what those numbers actually meant. All the adjustments I had to make in hydration, fueling, clothing, schedule, mapping the routes!

I wish I had a coach who would guide me through all this! Thankfully, I have a very experienced friend who helped tremendously, because doing this on my own without knowledge and skills would've been a total nightmare.

I'll be honest, I wanted to drop several times. Not because it was physically hard (although, is was!), but because at some point it stopped being fun and began feeling like a choir. And it felt like my whole life was building around my running schedule. Maybe the timing wasn't perfect - we have a lot going on lately. But I can't see it possible to find 4 month without anything happening :) Anyway, finding time for training and prioritizing it was sometimes maddening.

And of course, the anxiety is real. Not that I'm afraid of the distance itself. I am nervous about the hills, yes, but at the same time, I didn't set any particular goal for the time. I want to just finish this time. And I'm sure I can do it, even if I need to walk half of the way. But couple of weeks ago I found myself totally freaking out wanting to drop kind of anxious. Thankfully, I'm back in school now, and my coaching colleagues were able to help me to find the real cause of the fear.

Turned out to be the uncertainty of logistics! Things like where to park, how early to wake up, how to dress for the weather, how on earth to get my husband moving on time, etc. Stuff that is not related to the race, at least, not directly!

Here where the beauty of coaching showed in full bloom: we created a plan. I spoke to Simon and we decided on our timeline. We studied the map and found potential parking spots. Yesterday we actually drove there and walked around the starting line to know for sure what to expect. So now I can only worry about the running. What a relief!

And on the bright side, not all the training was annoying :) For example we went on vacation to DC area (and yes, I had to squeeze 5 runs into our vacation schedule) and were able to do an 18-miler on a Mount Vernon trail, running along Potomac river straight into National Mall, where another great friend of ours was entertaining our child at a museum. I have to say, it was THE BEST run I had so far! And it was only possible BECAUSE of all the previous training.

So now one more week of anticipation, and then I'll be done :) Will keep you posted. Stay tuned!