Blog archives for November, 2001

I’ve begun finalizing my last minute plans for the marathon. I will pick up my race packet on Saturday and drive the course in my car so I know that it looks like. I’ll also pick up any last minute food that I need and double check that I have everything on my checklist for the run. Then I’ll lay it all out the night before so that I know where everything is when I wake up. I’ll set the alarm for about 5:00 AM so I can eat 2 full hours before the run. Lastly, I’ll get to bed early so I get a good night rest. My next post will be after the marathon. Wish me luck!

Besides cutting down on mileage, I am also trying to get 8 hours of sleep each night this week. Although some nights have been more like 7:30, I’m doing pretty well so far. All this ‘effort’ to get plenty of sleep is because sleep is the time when most muscle rebuilding occurs. It is also not uncommon for folks to have some trouble sleeping the night before a big race. That is OK as long as you get a full night’s sleep 1 or 2 nights before that. I’m playing it safe and trying to get as much sleep as I can this week.

This week has been tough. I have been cutting back on my mileage and have been eating more carbs so I have had a lot more energy. Add to that the stress / anticipation of the marathon and you have the ingredients for a nervous breakdown. It was so nice to use up some of that energy with my run last evening. It was only a hair over 3 miles but it felt so good to work off some of that energy. I have one more very short run on Thursday and then little to no outlet for this extra energy. I first read about this situation in Jeff Galloways’s Book on Running but did not believe that I would be tempted to cheat the taper by running extra but I can understand it now!

This is almost December and I am wearing shorts today! Yesterday we tied our record high. Today the high will be in the mid 70′s and our lows will be more like what our average highs ought to be (mid 50′s). This is not the kind of weather I was expecting to run the marathon in. When running, your body warms and makes it feel about 20 degrees warmer than it is. So if you are comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt at 70 degrees, that is what you should wear when it is about 50 degrees. If it is 70 degrees outside, it will feel like 90 when you are running! Also, the body gets used to the weather you have been training in. It takes a while to get used to running in hot weather after running in cool/cold weather. Hopefully, that cold front will come by and we will have the high of mid 50′s on Sunday they are forecasting. It not, I’ll be testing out the sweat wicking properties of my Coolmax shirt rather than the heat holding properties of my Polartec shirt!

Having finished my last long run (8 miles) before the marathon, the taper begins to really cut down the mileage this week. This is a week to rest and fuel up for Sunday. It is also a time to keep those negative emotions (I can’t do it, It is to far, I should never have signed up for this, etc.) in check. Sleep is very important this week. I’ll try and get at least 8 hours every night. I’ll work to stay hydrated, eats a higher mix of carbs (without eating too much since I’m running less), and stay sane!