Thought you, loyal blog reader, might find this interesting:
Dear Diary,
Marathon day is coming up quickly! I can't wait for Sunday, but there's so much to do before then.I am stretching so much that people at work look at me funny. I feel a little achy and my 4 mile EZ run yesterday was anything but. My left knee, which has been hurting all season, was fine, but now my right one hurts! I know what that means, ice and REST this week (along with the aforementioned stretching).
It's ridiculous how much water I drink lately. I always have a bottle of water handy and I'm constantly refilling it at the water cooler. The more I drink, the better it tastes and the more I start to crave it. Even though the weather has cooled down lately, it could get pretty hot on marathon day...I might sweat more that usual it's crucial that I hydrate now. I'm also putting extra salt on all my food so my body can retain as much water as possible.
I also stopped by Times Square to get some throwaway hat/gloves/long-sleeve-T for before the race. It's important not to waste calories trying to stay warm at 6 AM. And I found the perfect throwaway track pants ($12.99 at Filenes) and shirt ($10.50 at Uniqlo, they swear it's "heat tech"). I plan on wearing all this until the start so I can take them off and throw them away. We sit around in Staten Island for 3+ hours before the race starts.
Send Off is this Tuesday (October 28). It's mandatory because there is a lot of important info and good advice. 7pm at University Settlement at 184 Eldridge Street between Rivington and Delancy. I'm going to make sure to collect $5 from each of my mentees so we can thank our coaches!Oh and don't even get me started Don't forget about nutrition and hydration! The course preview tells me a bit about what to expect. Water and Lemon-lime Gatorade Endurance Formula will be available at official fluid stations every mile beginning at mile 3. That sounds ok to me, but I might also consider bring my fuel belt because you know what they say, "Nothing new on race day!." That would also give me a place to store my nutrition! At this point, I won't try anything new…I'm just staying with what I've been doing for all my long runs. Anything that won't fit in my fuel belt/pockets, I will safety pin right onto my clothes. Now I just need to find time to run to GNC and pick up those vanilla powergels!
I've told my friends about Athlete Tracker so they can see where I am throughout the race! They only notify via e-mail but most cell phone companies have a way that you can convert cell phone numbers to e-mail addresses and get texts. For instance Verizon is Ten Digit Phone Number (##########)@vtext.com. Mom and Dad are all hooked up!
You should see me pathetically dropping hints about the marathon to anyone that will listen! You know, just so they know how important I am this week (and how important I will be next week too! I think everyone in a 3 block radius of my work and apartment is fully aware, so that's good :)
Finally, I gotta remember to LOOK UP, LOOK AROUND AND SMILE during my race. We are doing an incredible thing. Every mile, we should be reminding ourselves to stay in the moment and be proud and excited. And, it's relaxing.I'm so proud of all my friends, teammates and mentees who are running this race (or who have trained so hard for almost 6 months only to be plagued by injury!!!).
Send them my best wishes, Diary!
Carissa
P.S. I hope my mentees will call me if they need anything! (thanks, Eric)
No comments:
Post a Comment