A week from today I am running my first marathon, the Maine Marathon up in Portland. And in some ways, the end of the training cycle has been the hardest part – much harder than the longest long runs (a couple of 22 milers). This part is as much psychological and strategic as physical, with some faith parallels thrown into the mix. At this point you have to let go, trust, and accept all the things you can't control. Like getting a cold with a week to go (rats). Like believing that it's really okay to keep cutting your mileage lower and lower over the final four weeks of the training cycle – that you won't lose your hard-won speed and endurance but will in fact improve it for race day (science and the experience of countless runners says yes, your instincts all scream no). Like getting physically and psychologically antsy because you're not running as much as you're used to. (Can anyone say, withdrawals?) Like heading out for yet another run in the rain; and realizing that it could very well be pouring for all 26.2 miles next week. And that's going to have to be okay to. Strategically I've realized that a Boston qualifying time (3hrs, 15mins) is probably out of reach for me on this first marathon. I really want to go for it, and feel as though I got close, but I don't want to use everything up in the first twenty miles and finish the last 6.2 crawling. I've reevaluated my target pace based on the last month's work and am going to shoot for something about 15 seconds per mile slower (something at or under 3hrs 25min). If I run faster than that, I run faster. If I run slower than that, I'm okay with that, too. Now, after all this time, I'm excited just to do it, come to the end of it. Set the next goal. Okay, this took just long enough to write to let lunch digest. Time for today's 10-miler 11-miler in the rain.
UPDATE: Should not have complained about the rain — it felt awesome, kept me cool, fun to pound through puddles and not care. Like being a kid. In fact, between the rain and how good, quick I felt for the whole 11, I am really trusting the taper now. Ready to go! (Or maybe it's just the post run endorphins…)
