An Ode to the Road

Long time, no chat.

For those who don't know (which I suspect is most, considering I've become a bit of a quarterly updater), I'm running a marathon in a little under three weeks. It started out as a half-cocked idea over a mimosa (or two) at brunch with Andrew, when he suggested using a training plan as a way to force ourselves to get back into running but with no real, concrete goal race waiting at the end. At that point I was approximately two weeks removed from the sweatiest 10k in history (B.A.A. with a heat index of 92 and 83% humidity), and six removed from my second half marathon (where I did, in fact, get my revenge on The Run to Remember by PRing my previous half time by 21 minutes. Still slow, but after being sidelined in a boot for what seemed like an eternity and my first race back on the streets, I'm proud of it and nothing can take that away). Initially, I planned to just run whatever mileage Andrew ran and maybe run a half sometime this fall as a "reward."

Somewhere along the endless miles of road, though, that all changed.

Which is how I find myself here, three weeks away from a marathon.

Since July 1st, I have run 382.9 miles, for a duration of 82 hours and 27 minutes. I've burned 52,282 calories, or about 15 pounds (which sounds swell, but since training also makes me eat like a horse, I've actually maintained my weight. I was terrified of falling into the "race weight" trap but have been determined to listen to my body and feed it what it wants, and so far, so good). For a girl whose furthest prior distance was 13.8 miles (thanks to weaving/not hitting the tangents during the R2R), I have now run the half marathon distance six more times, including once on a Friday night after work. I've woken up early to squeeze in 10 miles before heading to work on a Wednesday, and left a bag full of my clothes under my desk overnight to do the same a week later. This past Saturday, I ran 20 miles and climbed almost 1300 feet in less than an hour longer than it took me to run 13 two years ago.

Prior to starting this, I looked at the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Marathon Plan and rolled my eyes. "It isn't even good for my legs to run two days in a row; there is no way in hell I could manage three plus a long run." Yet here I am, having not missed a single run in almost 15 weeks. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, I am out on the road (or, in a few very limited circumstances, on a treadmill). Rain or shine, blazing heat or unseasonably cool, I'm there. It has been hard and painful and, at times, I really thought I might collapse into bed at the end of the day in a heap of tears and never lace up my sneakers again.

But I do.

I knew that marathon training would be physically exhausting. The part I didn't count on is the mental toll it takes, as well. For the past four months, every. single. thing. I. do. has centered around this one goal, to run 26.2 miles without collapsing in the street. Every choice, from my bedtime to my diet to my freakin' footwear, has been dependent upon the question, "will this hurt me come race day?" I know this is something I signed up for, and I am still amazed at my capacity to pursue a goal and see it through; to say that it hasn't been physically taxing and mentally draining, though, would be lying. The copious amount of time this has afforded me in my own head is both a blessing and a curse, in that I now have thousands of ideas but just as many doubts. It's an interesting balance, and I am excited and terrified to see how it all plays out.

So, that's my update. Maybe once I have a marathon medal around my neck, the thoughts and ideas that come so clearly out on the street will find their way to the page. Until then: ciao, bellas!