This Week: It’s Game On!

Looking back at my training, I’ve logged a little more than 128  miles and averaged 16 per week.  Some weeks were better than others.  It’s not great and avid runners training for such probably average between 20 and 50 miles per week.  However, I feel this gets me over the finish line.

This race has hills and to be safe – I’m not running those.  It will be cooler in the morning which is perfect weather for the event.

The biggest obstacle I had to fight through to get training in??? Work.  I always had something else I needed to do but had to let sit to get it in.  That wasn’t the case with the other 2 half marathons I trained for and that was because the time of year.  It was during a slower period.  In fact, weather was the biggest obstacle before and more specifically it was snow.  Once it was 2 feet of snow that was dumped over a 2 day period.  Nonetheless, there is always something that will try to get in the way of training but when faced with the option of under-training and causing injury or worse, I’ll take training every time.  The news just ran a story on a firefighter that had a heart attack 500 feet from the finish line at the Chicago Marathon.  Prayers for him and his family.  A study of marathon runners found that 1 in 67,414 died during an event or immediately afterwards – most due to an underlying condition.  Also, dehydration can add additional strain on the heart at a time it is already under stress.  Too much water – hyponatremia – can also be fatal and was the root cause of some deaths.

All of the above, are serious considerations and was motivation for me to keep up with training.

The week before the event, anxiety begins to build for me.  I always start to get nervous and questioning if I’m really ready.  Three nights before the first half marathon I laid awake all night wondering if I was really up for it…am I too old??  Have I trained enough?  Am I physically and mentally prepared??? All those things as well as others begin to eat at me if I let them.  Also I have this event on Tuesday night which requires a lot of standing and running around in heels.  Sometimes following such I’m left with blisters or sore feet.  I have chosen the most comfortable heels for the event and let that be the guide for the suit I’m wearing.  Also, I’m wearing flat shoes immediately before and afterwards.  Hopefully that will help.

I am leaving for KC today to get ready for the  event with Laura Ingraham for Vitae.  This is our 2nd largest fundraising event and the goal is high.  So it’s game on!