Two Weeks Out

Marathon day is two weeks away. On March 14, I will lace on my lightest pair of shoes, don a tank top, running skirt, and my plushest socks - and I will run. If all goes well, Ed will run me in from mile 20. In all likelihood, I will not meet my goal of qualifying for Boston. But I still believe a sub-4 hour marathon is possible, and I am gunning for it. A lot of things have to go right for that to happen.

My marathon training cycle started 14 weeks ago. In those weeks, I have logged 356 miles. That includes two weeks of almost no running - the week I had the flu and last week when I was in Tahoe. I did sneak in two fantastic, hilly runs in Tahoe - including a 4.5 mile run up an 1100 foot stretch of mountain roadway. I will think about that run when I hit the two substantial hills on course. They are nothing compared to the hills in Tahoe.

I could never add up the hours of my life that have been given to this goal. I try and run very early in the morning to limit the impact my running has on the rest of the household, but some runs just cannot be squeezed in, particularly those that have lasted 3 or more hours!

I have learned so much about myself and about running during this training cycle. I may not be able to meet my original goal, but it is not because I didn't train hard.

Keep it together for two more weeks, legs. We can do this!

Elaine