Butterflies

I’m entering that anxious little countdown period before race day. It usually consists of the feeling that I’m way out of shape and am really going to struggle to get to the finish. I certainly haven’t been slacking off since my last race, but I always feel like I haven’t trained quite hard enough. I’m really trying to avoid that feeling headed into the marathon in December, but I’m already 14 miles behind where I’m supposed to be on my training schedule.

A couple of things have contributed to my shortfall.
1. I’m human – and therefore innately lazy. We’ve already learned I love the snooze bar. It’s also sometimes not as much laziness as it is prioritizing different things. I’m trying to keep a balance in my life and don’t always succeed at that.

2. I’ve been listening to my body. This is a relatively new thing for me. I usually try to tough my way through pain, tell myself that it will go away after another mile. But after dealing with a lingering hip flexor and an aching quad for long enough, I now try to nip injury in the bud. I think it’s my new shoes, but my right arch has been giving me some grief, which is also causing my calf to tighten up. All that’s to say – I’d like to use this body for a long time, so I better take care of it.

I’ve got two make-up days scheduled this week, so I’ll be able to knock out seven miles, and I’ll grab three more this weekend at my race. So before you know it, I’ll only be back four miles. I can deal with that.

Tomorrow’s bib day – cue the excited nerves.

180 days, 970 miles to go