Save it all for Sunday

This is the end of training, and there is no point in risking anything. So, I am doing a lot less running during my final week than normal. I am going to save it all for Sunday.

I've been very grateful to all of the support people have given me, particularly in the last week. Reason starts to go out the window as a marathon approaches, and any possible hurdles will expedite the crazy-mind process. I saw Sarah (my running coach) yesterday, and she was my barometer about this whole thing. If she flinched about my foot, that would've raised my stress level considerably. But she asked a series of questions, including "Does it feel like your shoes are tied too tight?" and concluded with what I was sure of already, "It's definitely tendonitis." Well, I actually sighed in relief at that point. No concerns of a stress fracture (a phrase which had been spinning around my head last week), so wahoo! I had been looking at pictures of feet all weekend and had come to the realization that the pain was too high to be a bone - it was definitely a tendon. This is why I have a master's in medieval history, not a MS. It is certainly uncomfortable, and while it's not ideal to run a marathon feeling like this, it is doable. And my cold is almost gone too. Day by day, I'll figure it out. I need to work on my mental strategy for Sunday. Might not feel like 100% on Sunday, but I'll certainly give my 100%.

In an unrelated note, Ryan Hall jumped 5 notches in my book in his latest blog:

After a morning run, lunch with friends, and a 90-minute nap, I started debating whether or not I should head out on my prescribed easy run in the afternoon. While grubbing on some Kix I started the all-too-common runner debate: to run or not to run?

Hold the phone. Ryan eats Kix cereal too? Kid-tested, mother-approved? Woo! That has been my cereal of choice since, oh, 1991. Glad to know my breakfast is the breakfast of champions!

Back to reality. In 14 weeks of training, I ran 677 miles. That includes lots of massive speed workouts, tempos, and long runs. I can rest easy this week, and trust in the months of training I've put in over the summer. So many times I toed the line at the track when the sun was still struggling to rise, so many times I saw Saturday when others were still on Friday. I hit my splits, even in the heat, I hit the hills of Saratoga and Takoma, and my reward is the mostly-flat Rochester Marathon.

I get on a plane tomorrow night and fly home. I have the hometown advantage. My parents will be around all weekend - from start to finish. I cannot wait to see them - not going to lie, looking forward to getting babied a little. The next few days are all about rest, rest, rest.

A friend of mine sent me a poem about my upcoming marathon. She did this as well before Boston, and I kept a copy of it in my shorts pocket to look at while I was waiting to start. I am going to include a few lines,

Keep this in mind

You have trained

you have fought

you have given great thought

to this race and this time

Many have watched and wondered

Some have questioned your sanity

But for you 26.2 is a magic number and brings harmony

It is definitely my magic number. Gotta save it all for Sunday...