You know you’re training for a marathon when…

• You become incredibly forgetful
• You fall asleep on the couch before 10 pm (ok, 9:30 pm)
• You only think about F-O-O-D (Thank you, Protein Bar!)
• Your co-workers keep nudging you with those ‘counting down the days, eh?’ comments
• and you can’t resist registering for three more races post-marathon before you’ve even run the marathon

Yes, all of those things happened. It’s been an interesting two weeks. Blogging became an after-thought because, hey, real life has to happen at some point along with all of these miles! Last week, I kind of continued on my mopey taper tantrum route that I mentioned in my last blog post. I was irritable and tired and just all around moody. In hindsight, that all just seems ….silly. It occurred to me today that I’m not nervous about 26.2 miles anymore.

Now, I’m excited!!!

Last night, as I watched my three favorite shows on t.v. right now (count ’em: Dexter, Breaking Bad, AND Boardwalk Empire), I thought “I don’t have another weekend to delay this marathon”. I don’t have one more long run to squeeze in there and I most certainly don’t have the luxury of saying ‘meh…I’ll get more sleep next week”. This week, eating and sleeping are a priority. And I’m most happy to oblige!

Throughout this taper craziness, I tried to keep myself as busy as possible.

I went dancing at a Puerto Rican restaurant for a friend’s birthday.

I became very anal about communicating with friends & family that are coming to cheer me on for the marathon. (i.e. where I will be at certain times + where they will be on the course)

Enjoyed some ‘rooftop time’ to take advantage of these crispy falls temps we’ve been having here in Chi.

Cooking delicious dinners with Manny.

Met my FundRacing goal for Back on My Feet Chicago !!!!! Thanks to everyone who donated…for those of you who haven’t yet, click here. Running with their 6 members will be so much fun!

I’ve taken full advantage of cable t.v.—after 3 years without it, I’m more than willing to soak it all up.

I got a massage. Mmmmhmmm! (I could write a whole post on this 60 minutes alone.)

Focusing on decorating the new apartment a bit more too.

AND…I finalized my race outfit. (I know, I still have 7 days to do that, but why not get it out of the way?)

Saucony singlet, Nike shorts, New Balance arm warmers, Experia socks, and hot pink Saucony Kinvaras. 🙂

After my 3.5 hour 22.2 mile long run, I was mentally ready to recharge and focus on shorter distances.The past two weeks have been very focused. Just take a gander:

Monday:1 hour Power Yoga at home with my new friend, Rodney Yee

Wednesday: 6-mile Tempo run with tempo splits: 7:54, 7:51, 7:33, 7:34

Thursday: Speedwork 7 x 400s (Splits:1:30, 1:34, 1:32, 1:36, 1:33, 1:33, 1:31)

Friday: Recovery 5 miles

Sunday: 14 miles at 8:17 average pace 🙂 All smiles after the aforementioned dancing at Puerto Rican restaurant

Tuesday: Short threshold with 3 miles at 7:30 pace

Wednesday: 1 hour massage, during which the therapist proceeded to find every. single. one. of the painful tendons in my back. Of course, I knew nothing about these bad boys and we ended up focusing more on my back than my legs. Either way, I felt pretty loosey-goosey afterward!

Thursday: HOT VINYASA YOGA. (If you’re in Chi and you’re looking for a chill, quiet hot yoga studio, go to TruHarmony in River North!) I had the BEST class ever this day. 75 minutes of deep stretching, focus on the hips, strong powerful poses, and deep breathing was just what I needed after the massage and during my taper.

Saturday: Speedwork 4 x 1200 m repeats with consistent splits despite the wind!

Sunday: 10 miles at Marathon Pace (8:12 average pace)

Ok, I’m ready. I really feel like everything is going to ‘click’ at the start line and I will go into a mode where I’m comfortable and consistent. I will ‘find my strong’ and persevere. First marathon= instant personal record.

I’m so excited to meet up with some #runnerds at the expo on Friday afternoon and at Jake Melnick’s Tap on Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to relaxing, eating, sleeping for the next 6 days so that all systems are GO on Sunday. (Looks like even the weather forecast is going to cooperate this year!)

-J