The Marathon...

Last night I walked for almost 2 hours.  I don't know how far that was but I do know we did a ton of hills.  My legs ache.  I have to maintain training however or I fear that the marathon will be a bust again this year. 

I mean, I finished last year but I was the last to finish.

 

As much as I wanted to THINK I was in shape for last years half marathon - I wasn't.  My lack of knowledge caused me to be in pain two weeks.  One of my doctors told me that I might have had a minor stroke as my EKG's were different.  I guess I found no reason not to believe him being I was lethargic and not myself for so long afterwards.  I even stopped exercising all together for three months afraid I would do more damage or be in pain longer.  The only thing that happened was I gained all the weight I had previously lost while I was 'training'.

 

Last year I was so nervous and it caused me to lose focus on my breathing.  I also pushed myself harder than I had ever pushed in any of my training sessions. This year is different.  I have been consistently training since October. I have worked on my technique a little and I have pushed myself enough to know the limit of my pace. 

 

The goal of this marathon has been on my mind since I crossed the finish line last year.  Even though I want to beat my time from last year - I would be happy with just feeling good crossing the line instead of feeling like I'm gonna die if I make one more step.

 

I have a week and a half left to go on this journey.  I'm excited but nervous.  Nervous because everything I have been doing since last October has been for this one particular day.  Excited because the day is almost here.

 

N and I are also skating the 10 mile tour in St. Paul's Inline Marathon and I have ALWAYS wanted to do the North Shore Half Marathon but haven't had the guts to sign up just yet.  Of course there are other Inline Marathons out there but last year was the very first Inline Marathon ever held in the Metrodome.  It feels kinda good knowing that I was part of something from the beginning.  It's something I would like to do every year that I physically can. 

 

Last year Mark skated the full marathon but we couldn't skate together being we were in two different categories.  It was hard because we had been training together prior and he wasn't able to help me focus while we skated.  He knew just what to say to make me try harder. (whether I liked it or not) Without him able to skate with me it was obvious that I feel apart.  This year I don't believe he will be skating but N is.

 

That is another reason this year is special. My little sister N has decided to take on this challenge with me. Even though I thought I would, I haven't relied on N to be there for motivation. However she does bring up conversations which tend to make me move faster.  When she was there for training it was a bonus and  it's always more fun to have someone sharing in your pain. 

 

So I guess I'm almost there folks.  All my crabbing' and complaining about all the skating, walking and biking I have been doing hasn't been in vain.  The day is almost here and I'm almost to the point I want to be for it.  Soon we will know if all this work has been worth it...

 

Now if I could just lose 10 more pounds....