By The Numbers

So here we go again…another marathon is on tap for me this weekend.  Tomorrow morning at 7:02am to be exact.  Who knew that three years ago this month when I started running that I’d be doing not one but TWO marathons?!

Last year about this time, I was sitting around with nothing to do, since I was suddenly not running at all after weeks of doing nothing but running, thanks to the magical “taper” period.  Sounds great, but unfortunately, it gave me too much time to sit and stress over the upcoming 26-mile run.  :p I’ve spent a lot of time looking over numbers. I should probably be asleep, but I’m too keyed up, so here are some of the numbers just to pass the time:

• Number of weeks of training: 18
• Number of runs during training: 85 (holy crap?!)
• Total miles run: 518.45 (um, wow)
• Number of runs started before 4:30am: 5 (ugh–that meant getting up before 4am!)
• Number of runs in sub-zero temperatures: 7
• Lowest run temperature: -8
• Number of runs in a snowstorm: 4
• Number of runs at or below pace: 16
• Number of runs longer than 13 miles: 7
• Longest run: 20 miles
• Shortest run: 1 mile (with my youngest)
• Weight change since start of training: -.4 pounds (hey, I’ll take that!)
• Number of job changes during training: 1 (ha ha, just thought I’d throw that in there!)

So, after reading all that…I guess there’s nothing left to do except run the race, right? 😉

I was reading last year’s pre-marathon post, and noting the differences.  As noted above, I changed jobs about halfway through my training—I sure never expected that 18 weeks ago!  And yet…it was probably the best component of my training. 🙂 I’m so much happier now, and so much less stressed.  My coworkers all wished me luck on Friday before I left, and my boss even told me to leave early.  She also told me not to check my email on Monday and Tuesday when I’m off work to recuperate. I love her! 😉

Probably the other big difference between last year and this year is that this year, I know I can do this. I’ve already done it once!  This year, there are other questions, such as whether I can do it in less than five hours (my goal) and whether my son will be able to keep pace with me for 5.3 miles to cross the finish line with me.  I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I do know that we’ve both done as much as we can to accomplish our goals.

Another big difference this year, of course, is that I’m not running alone.  I’m so happy about that—I can’t even tell you!  I have a relay team of 4 friends and Jamie, and those friends have been amazingly supportive.  In fact, we were all just instant messaging together about logistics for the morning, and they were all telling me to go to bed, lol!

And that’s where I’m headed, as soon as I post this.  But first, I’ll tell you about my day.  I slept for 10 hours, not getting up until 8am. Oh, the joy!  Then, I had my coffee and an English muffin, and I made the kids eggs (which I also had).  After that, I did a little laundry and then Jamie and I headed to Toledo to pick up our packets.  From there, we spent the morning and early afternoon delivering packets and pizzas (JJ’s baseball fundraiser).  My sister took a picture of us with our bibs when we dropped off her pizza.

After that, I asked Jamie what he wanted for lunch, and he surprised me by asking for Asian.  Seems he had a hankering for pad thai!

I figured it couldn’t hurt, since there was still plenty of time to digest it all before tomorrow morning, so I let him.  He really enjoyed it, and also enjoyed the chopsticks!

Now it’s bed time.  Thanks to everyone for reading and following along with my second marathon story.  Next time you hear from me, I’ll be a two-time marathoner! 🙂