All These Things I've Done: A Training Recap

The hay is in the barn. Single days and single digit runs are all that's left.

Last night, I did 8 x 400 averaging 1:43 pace - just wanted to get a little leg turnover. It felt great - I settled into a groove very quickly, and even with just 200 meter recover, each time I kicked off felt good. I then did a mile at 7:40 pace, and even after the 400s, it felt good too.

I sat down to figure out the numbers of all of my training since January 10th (incidentaly, which was also the day I went gluten-free): this includes running and all forms of cross training. Weight work, core work, and ITB stretches are not figured in, but these are all the things I've done to get ready:

Running mileage: 529.25 miles

Swimming: 40,000 yards

Elliptical: 206 miles

Rowing: 75,300 meters

I don't know how many hours that adds up to, but this is the most I have ever trained for a marathon. Ever. It has been consistent and focused. Once I started physical therapy in January, the IT Band pain went away permanently. My new diet has been consistent. I am physically a lot stronger - my legs and arms look different. I don't tucker out toward the end of a run anymore. I have figured out how to run tempos. I ran a solid half marathon (1:34:37) that indicates going sub 3:30 is more than doable.

I have run this course before - I know what the hills look like, what the crowds sound like, and what this magical race feels like.

This is one of my favorite songs (All These Things I've Done by the Killers), and especially paired with the clip of Joan Benoit Samuelson winning Olympic Gold in 1984 is all the more inspiring. It is one of my power songs, because it reminds me that I have assembled a good training cycle and followed it to its end.

My power word is going to be "courageous" on Monday. I have taken several leaps of faith: with my diet, with the cross training, and my goal for Monday. I am going to have step outside of myself, which I am learning how to do, and push on Monday. But I am going to run focused, simultaneously running free and happy.

I am setting myself up now to relax my mind and enjoy myself in these final days. I get to have a few dinners with medieval faculty, which I am excited, and see some of my dearest friends and family. That is going to put me in an ideal state for Monday: relaxed and happy.

The door has been slammed shut, the hay is in the barn, and I cannot wait to run on Monday.