Y'all, I am 2 weeks and 2 days from my 2nd marathon. And I am so excited/nervous (we need a word for that--nervcited?) for it. In fact, I'm already getting a little emotional about the whole process. It has been a journey, and I feel like I need to try to express some of what it's been like before I hit race day. Somewhere, this needs to be documented!
Starting point: Since I ran my first marathon in spring 2013 (Nashville), my running has been inconsistent. That fall, I halfheartedly trained for the Tuna 200 relay race; it was so much fun but didn't require much above and beyond from me. In 2014, I tackled the Uwharrie 20-mile trail run, which was so challenging (it took longer than my marathon) that it burned me out from running for several months. In the fall, I picked up running again but didn't race or have a distance event for the first time in years.
So I found myself this spring feeling out of shape, intimidated by distance running, and knowing that I needed a kick in the butt. I was coaching the half & full marathon training programs and feeling like a fraud in some ways. And so this May, I ran the Not So Normal Half-Marathon. It was muggy and hot, and I found myself discouraged by my training times. It ended up being my slowest half-marathon, but I felt proud of how my race day had gone overall--I felt strong and calm.
This summer, I handed my training over to my friend and fellow Fleet Feet coach Carolyn. In spite of my 2:21-ish half-marathon finish, Carolyn told me I would train to, and could race, a full marathon in 4:15, or a 9:45 min/mile pace.
It has been more than 22 weeks since I put my running into her hands for twice-weekly track/speed workouts and Saturday long runs, adding in a 4th day on my own. The early workouts were brutal. North Carolina humidity and heat. A body unaccustomed to pushing the pace. My typical pace for going out and running easy was closer to a 12:00 min/mile at that point; we started with a 9:00 min/mile tempo pace goal for my speed work. It felt like it took everything I had to manage it. I skipped some early workouts and experienced self-doubt.
I don't know when exactly the switch flipped, but it did. Suddenly I was hitting my targets for pace and number of reps. I pushed myself, every workout. I would receive Carolyn's weekly workout and get a nervous pit in my stomach but go into the workout with confidence--I'd been hitting targets, so I could hit this one, too. And I did. Each successful workout--I logged them in a spreadsheet and tagged successes as "W" for wins--built my confidence. My long run pace slowly crept up to a comfortable 11:00 min/mile average.
In September, we increased speedwork from tempo to interval pace--suddenly I was running 800s, 1200s, even a mile at 8:25. My long runs became less intimidating, even as we started adding race pace to the end of our runs. (Oh, the early days of race pace were so very challenging, and it was 95% mental, I realize now.)
Last weekend, our training peaked at 20 miles--17 at easy run pace, the last 3 at race pace. It was challenging--every run we do is--but I felt strong, and I blew the race pace miles out of the water, finishing on a 9:11 mile. When I trained for Nashville, I remember long stretches of walking our 15+ mile runs. We paused a few times to regroup or for aid breaks, and walked briefly once after a long, steep hill, but otherwise we were running the whole way.
I am proud of how far I've come. And I'm so deeply grateful to have had this training experience. To know that I can push myself the way that I have. Oh, it's been hard. I've become so tired in recent weeks. I'm emotionally fatigued. I've cancelled plans to see friends more times in the last month than I probably have in the last three years. I've had some workouts that haven't gone well.
But I've also made incredible friends, especially the two women I've trained with. We each have the same goal of a 4:15 and have been able to motivate and push each other through these challenging workouts. So many times their presence alone was enough to keep me moving. I don't know what will happen on race day--will we stay together? For how long? But I will always cherish the 500+ miles we've run together this season.
So here I am: 2 weeks and 2 days from race day. At this point, my preparation is mental. I'm reading race recaps from last year's Philly runners trying to get a sense for the course and crowd support. I have a visualization exercise I've been doing to help me think positively on race day, and I've read a ton of articles online about mental preparation for a marathon. I've prepared a meticulous packing list.
I don't know what will happen on race day. I'm still gathering information from experienced and recent marathoners on pacing strategy. I see two risks: going out too fast could mean hitting the wall and tanking so that I'm nowhere near my goal time... or playing the race too conservatively and finishing the race slower than goal time wondering if I could have done more, or pushed harder.
There's a fine line to walk between the two. Right now, I'm leaning toward taking the first risk. I know my body is physically prepared. My training is solid. The race hinges on my mental strength, and my what my body has in it on race day.
Regardless of what happens, I have had a challenging and rewarding training season, and I've pushed myself beyond what I thought I could. My "safety" goal is to match my Nashville time of 4:57. My "good day" goal is to be at least 10 minutes faster than Nashville. And my "ideal race day" goal? That's my training goal of 4:15.
We shall see what happens. In the meantime, I have two jobs: mentally preparing, and taking the best possible care of my body. Hydrating, sleeping and fueling well. And allowing myself to feel all the feelings you're supposed to at this point in training. Yep, I'm nervcited all right.
