Almost there...

When you wish upon a star...that is right I can hear the Disney music playing already as I am less than a week away from the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon! The cool thing about this race...I am the only person doing it (atleast in my little running circle). Even cooler....we get to go to Florida in what has turned out to be a very cool October out there on the Prairie Path. The coolest thing....the race starts at 10pm..yep I get to run through 3 theme parks at night. WAY COOL!!

The funny thing...this poses 3 very cool situations...but also creates 3 new aspects to running and training that I haven't encountered yet. (...and am totally freaked out about)

1-I DON"T HAVE ANYONE TO RUN WITH! I always run with a group. Occaisionally you will catch me doing a 4 miler or tagging an extra 2 miles onto a run by myself. But start to finish 13.1 miles?! So I have a plan...I am going to get to the expo hoping to find a pace group so I can latch onto someone and probably in 13.1 miles learn a whole lot more than I ever wanted to know! In case that fails, I have loaded my IPOD with 2 hours of my favorite sing a long songs :).

2-YESTERDAY IT WAS 75 degrees and 91% humidity at race time and on race day its projected to rain :( I have been training on beautifully cool days with almost no humidity. So race conditions will be very different. My plan...to go with the flow! The one thing you can't control on race day is the weather. So say a little prayer to mother nature for me!

3-THE RACE IS AT NIGHT! While this will make the race an UBER COOL experience, I have never run later than 4pm and that has been only a handful of times. 90% of my training has practically been before the sun is up! So for me, eating and most drinking will cease around 3pm...7 hours before race time, just like ti would if the race were at 6am. Lets hope there are bathrooms on the course...just in case!

So for now I am just enjoying the taper...3 easy 3-4 mile runs this week to cap off my training.

I'll post next week to let you know how it went..."See Ya Real Soon"

Mind over matter

Today I did the longest run I have EVER done...A new milestone for me, 15.32! Yep thats right...I count the .32, in fact I'm counting ever step of that run!!! My friend Dana used to tell me that it was 1.68 miles from her house to where we met...it ALL counted to her, and I have stuck by that since the first time she said those words out loud.

Anyway, as all my friends train for the Chicago Bank of America Marathon and slowly climb the ladder of mileage, I wonder how their legs do it! I realized today their legs aren't the biggest battle.

So the story begins with how I got to the crazy 15 on a Saturday in September if I am, in fact, NOT training for a Marathon. Well I am about to RUN WITH THE MOUSE! Yep that is right, I am doing (in 2 short weeks) the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Inaugural Half Marathon. (of course its inaugural, so I had to do it, but thats another story :) I am following a new plan that is pushing my running limits, calling for me to do a run at 13 and 14 miles. 13 miles was 2 weeks ago, this week was 14.

As I realized today LONG runs are all about MENTAL TOUGHNESS. Truth is I left the physical part behind as I dragged myself out of bed at the 4:30 am alarm! I broke the run up into 3 segments in my head, 3 miles on the road, 6 miles on the path eastward and 5 miles west. 3 runs I have done with ease...just all added together! I never let my mind get a grip on how far my legs would actually take me today.

As it turns out, when we headed out for the final leg, I overran a little to get Gatorade (admit it, you've done it...sometimes us runners will do anything for a cup of gatorade). I thought I would be about a half mile over but as it turns out 1.32 miles from my car.

As my Garmin beeped at 14 miles, this is wear I really had to get mentally tough...I had finished my run, but needed to get back to my car. Honestly I don't think I could have walked it, I would have stiffened up too fast. So I ran ALL THE WAY BACK.

I ran past the 15 mile BEEP, I ran past the farthest point I ever ran or planned to run, I ran past a goal, and most importantly I ran past those thought of self doubt in my head.

I really was proud of my run today, I finished strong, a little sore and really ready for a cup of coffee (it was still before 7:30 am)!

So when you think you can't do it...stop telling yourself that. Get mentally tough...its the hardest part of the battle.

AND to all of you who did 20 today in prep for that marathon....You go girls (and guys)!

Let the TAPER begin