The Perfect Day

Ahh yes...the weather is stacking up to be the perfect day...NOT! Currently the forecast is predicting 90% chance of thunderstorms...temps starting at 68 and going up to 76 degrees. That is 15 degrees too warm and obviously sun is preferred. I debated weather with my dad a bit...we both agree that rain is significantly better than wind.

I will be trying to place myself in the right mindset to not let the weather bother me. I tell my boys that all the time with their soccer. You can't let the rain ruin your focus on the game. Take advantage of the fact that it is getting the other team down. With that said, there hopefully will still be plenty of cheering and bands along the way to take my mind off the fact that I am running for 5-6 hours straight in miserable weather.

To be honest, the only thing I really care about is making it all the way so that my boys can run with me for the final mile and cross the finish line. I hope to have pictures to document the big event!

I certainly hope Ben was right!

Well...we are down to the last week before the big day...the Flying Pig Marathon kicks off at 6:30 am on Sunday, May 2nd. As I think about the past couple years when I "ran" the half marathon, I recall conversations I had with Ben Stigar from my team at work. He would always tell me how much of a mental game running must be due to the number of seemingly unfit people who are out there running the race!

As I looked around during those years, he was right...there are plenty of people in the marathon who definitely feast on pizza and burgers and have more than 8% body fat. Yet, they seem to easily chip away at it - mile after mile. I also talked to a couple pepole that did not seem to be in any real shape and actually seemed somewhat lazy who all contended that they ran a marathon.

Although I do know that there is some level of fitness that is needed (and it is significant), I think Ben is right...the run is very much a mental game. As I have mentioned time and time again, I find myself coming up with excuses to stop throughout any long run. The last one took 3 hours...plenty of time to focus on how sore your muscles are...or that something else you could be doing...or how hungry you are for a Whopper with Cheese.

To counteract the effect, I tried to think about my son and the focus and attention he must put into his school day after day. There is no question, he works much harder than I. I also found myself taking inventory as I ran along...trying to quantify my breathing and how my legs are doing. Most of the time, I would analytically come to the realization that I was not in as bad of shape as my emotions were telling me.

Currently, the weather forcast is not looking too promising...thunderstorms and lows only in the mid-50s, highs near 80 degrees. Hopefully, they weatherman is way off base...I much prefer a sunny day starting out at 45 degrees and onyl getting up to 60! But if Ben is right - I simply need the right attitude to take on whatever challenge lies ahead. I do look forward to the race...almost as much as I look forward to finishing it!

Did I Peak???

So I have been trying to get out and run a bit since the long run and have been having troubles even getting to 3 - 4 miles. I am not sure if it is a mental thing or whether my body is still re-couping from the 17 miler. I want to get out a couple more times to simply keep my legs moving a bit. Starting on Monday, I am also switching to a very high carb diet to prepare for the big day.

So far race day looks something like this...

• Spend the night in the guest apartment of an associate of mine downtown.
• Wake up to a sunny 40 degree morning and hope that it does not get hotter than 62 that day
• Eat banana and a Gu with Gaterade to wash it all down.
• Walk down to start line with dad who runs the first 5.5 miles with me.
• Gun goes off at 6:30 am...due to the other 15000 runners around us, it takes us at least 5 minutes just to get up to the start line.
• At mile one - wave to my friends and family who got up early to see us pass at 6:45.
• At mile 5.5 - wave again and drop off dad. Take another Gu with Gaterade and pick up my running belt with phone and 3 more Gu's
• Call at mile 13.1 to let them know I am still plugging away and force down yet another Gu - hopefully this happens close to 2 hours 15 mins
• Legs start falling off at 16 miles but I continue to plod on since now I am 10 miles away from "home".
• Suck down a Gu yet again and call at mile 20 to coordinate at finish line
• Meet boys at mile 25.5 and run with them across the finish line by 5 hours 30 mins
• Sleep for next 15 hours

my LONG day is complete

I set out yesterday at 7:30 in the morning on the bike path for my last long run until the Pig. Just over 3 hours later, I returned hom after covering about 17.5 miles. It was a perfect day....chilly but sunny....slight wind...flat course. I also took some Gu with me and something to slurp it down with. And, although it seemed like flavored glue or paste, I do believe it had a positive impact on my ability to finish up such a long distance. Once I stopped, my legs pretty much gave up on me. I laid around all day and had a very hard time with stairs.

There are only 20 days left until the marathon so I am going to take it easier on these last three weeks. I am spending some of that time "designing" a sponsor shirt with everyone that donated $$ to the cause on it. I will post some pics once I get it complete!