Monday, April 2, 2012

Final Two Weeks - Danielle

I started out last week hoping to run my last long run on Monday. I woke up that morning and quickly realized that my legs felt a bit tired, not sure from what though. I still set out as usual and as I expected, my long run turned into a shorter, 14.5-mile run. I was somewhat disappointed and looking at the week ahead, I had no time to re-attempt the long run until Sunday. I felt somewhat defeated but planned to try again Sunday. I told my woes to my friends at work and of course by the end of the day, I had gotten words of encouragement and reinforcement. I definitely left feeling much better than I did arriving.

Like Joellyn, I am having some regular dreams (or should I say nightmares) about the Marathon. I have had the "I can't get to the starting line, no matter how hard I try" dream. I've had the "I can't find my sneakers or number the day of the race" dream. I have also had the "I grab the
wrong sneakers the day of the race" dream. So needless to say, the psychological aspect of the run is in full swing!

I managed to squeeze in nine miles Thursday and let my legs rest until Sunday. I set out to run a long run early that morning and did 21.3 miles. That felt good under my belt so to speak. As I ran, I thought of how many miles my sneakers had run, where they had run and what I had seen. The country roads are horrible, I've seen many hills - up and down, I've seen cows, horses, goats; I've seen a lot of "road kill" including a tail of what likely was attached to a squirrel at one time. I've run by manure piles...need I say more. And let's not forget the several stormings of random unleashed dogs. I've returned home with the bottom of my sneakers smelling worse that my daughter's shin guards (and let me tell you, those things smell bad)! All in all, I would say it has been a good journey, interesting, but good.

My week ended in a farewell to my physical therapist. The facility was shut down permanently on Friday. I was sad to leave having a few weeks until the Marathon but Justin has done me well. I ran the miles and he helped me build the "hard body" to endure them. My last request before I left was for he and I to do planks together. He agreed to be a good sport!

So in the final two weeks before the Marathon, I'm going to keep moving and taper as planned. I'll be praying for no major changes in the weather as well.

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