Week Nineteen: The Home Stretch

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Week of October 14, 2013:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Evening run: 31 minutes total with 20 minutes running

Wednesday: Off to Detroit + Evening run with JD’s running group (29 minutes total, with 24 minutes running) 

Thursday: Off.  Completely off.  Didn’t even go outside today.

Friday: Played with Devin in the yard and went for a quick walk/run with him (untimed)

Saturday: Walked around the marathon expo with JD and went to the apple orchard with the family (Does jumping up and down on a teeter-totter count as a work-out?)

And tomorrow: THE DETROIT MARATHON!

Estimated mileage: 5.5 miles. Total minutes: 60.

The marathon is upon us, friends!  This morning James (JD) and I went down to the Detroit Marathon expo to pick up our bibs and soak in the marathon excitement.  For me, this week has made the marathon feel real in a way it hadn’t before.  I’m sure it’s because I’ve done almost all of my training alone, and on top of that, I’ve struggled with my commitment to this race.  But I’m here, and I’m ready to run/walk 26.2 miles starting just after 7 AM tomorrow morning.

I’m especially excited for JD to run this race.  He’s been training with a running group all summer, and his speed and endurance have both skyrocketed this year.  I think he’s going to have a fantastic race.  We’re going to try to run as much of the marathon together as possible, but I will be taking powerwalk breaks in between running bouts.  As I’ve told a lot of people, my walking plan for tomorrow is not a “death walk”—it’s powerwalking, which means the goal is to keep up the pace and effort throughout the race.  The “death walk” or “death shuffle,” as some people call it, is what happens when you’ve run as much as you can, and fatigue forces you to walk.  My goal is to avoid the death shuffle and to stay strong until the finish.

I have no idea how fast I will finish.  Those last nine miles or so are going to be very tough, but maybe, just maybe, I’ll finish by 5:30.  And if not 5:30, then please let me finish before 6:30 when the course closes!

Either way, JD and I are super excited for our first marathon.  Whatever tomorrow brings—rain or sun, cold or hot, wind or calm—I hope we have smiles on our faces at the end.

See you at the finish line, friends!