Wow, less than 5 days til my first marathon. Hard to believe the big day is right around the corner. Excited, worried, jazzed, questioning, feeling good, just so many things going through my noggin at this point. Rest assured I feel ready.
I started this conquest many months ago but more recently around May is when I decided to put the hammer down and not look back. It is hard to believe the number of hours and miles I've put into this endeavour. So many hot or hot and humid mornings I would rather stay in bed but instead I got out and put the training in. So many Sundays I thought about how long I'd be out on the road, not in terms of minutes, but hours. So many long runs where I returned home with pain in my legs, blisters on my feet and chaffing all over my body. But as I ran my last long run on Sunday I could feel my body telling me, you've put in the hard work required and it will all pay off this upcoming Saturday.
Back in May I decided to utilize the Hanson Brother's "Something of Substance" Marathon Training program http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4447, in short, it emphasizes more mid distance runs and nothing over 16 miles for a long run. Being a newbie to the Marathon but with many Half Marathons under my belt I thought it would be the right program. I must say that I did approach it as an experienced runner but unfortunately after a few weeks I felt my legs just couldn't take it. Too many consecutive days of longer runs and only one day off a week. It is probably a great program for some but for this runner at this point in time, not so much.
Instead, thankfully, the July 2010 issue of Runners World arrived sometime in June and there it was, the "Break 4:00 or Bust!" marathon training program http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-517--13533-1-1X2X3X4X5-6,00.html. The program has a wide range of different types of running, sprints, tempos, long distance, easy, etc. Many weeks later and I am pretty sure that this program has set me up for a PASS on my first marathon. Granted, I want oh so dearly to get in under 4 hours but I approach this race with an open mind, if I don't have what it takes to cover the distance in under 4 hours I will have what it takes to finish.
I had to throw in the photo above because during my last long run before the Marathon I did an easy 12 miler on the perimeter road around Wright Patterson AFB's runway. As I was coming up on 10 miles an F-16 came into view over my right shoulder, gear down, final approach, outstanding! As he zoomed past me, the noise was loud and intense, he then touched down, and before the wheels had been on the tarmac too long, he powered back up. With a loud deafening roar and flames pouring out the backside of his Viper he was off again in a flash. The whole experience was exactly what this runner needed, the power, performance and intensity of this event just added to this run and gave me the nod that I've got the power and endurance to get through 26.2 miles in less than a week. Hang on, this journey ain't over yet! Keep on smiling, keep on running.
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