Sunday, March 25, 2012

one week

I can hardly believe that it is only one week until my marathon. Next week at this time I will be (probably) zonked out in bed or still high on life! haha

This past week was so difficult. I ran, but it was hard. It felt hard every time my feet hit the pavement. I did all of my runs this past week outside rather than doing any on the treadmill. We have some heat and humidity going on right now so I thought the best thing to do was to get out and run in. My body from my feet to my head was not thrilled. Legs felt heavy, breathing was tough and my mind was not the most positive it's been. But I ran.

I took the day off from working out or running on Saturday because I had signed us (J and I) up to volunteer stuffing goody bags at the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon from 10am -2pm. Just a few hours of walking around in circles stuffing stuff in the marathon (kids run, 5k and half too) swag bags. I will say that I love to volunteer for races. It's such a great experience to see things from "the other side" of things. A lot of work goes into planning a race and as a runner being able to volunteer it makes it such a rewarding experience. Plus you get to meet other runners AND get a preview of the goody bag.

Speaking of, I was less than thrilled with the bag this year. Toothpaste, suckers and lots of Biofreeze....and a crapload of paper! Don't get me wrong, I am always appreciative of the many sponsors of such events however when I recall the bags from last year and the contents then compare that to this years... huge difference. The kids bag is the one with the real swag! Water bottles and slap bracelets!! Those kids will be thrilled!

Anyway, here I am volunteering!
[caption id="attachment_1184" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="You mean I don't look thrilled?!"][/caption]
I may or may not have had a bit too much fun celebrating my 10 year anniversary the night before. OR I may have just been a bit wiped out from 3.5 hours of walking around in a circle helping stuff 7300 bags! Either way, VOLUNTEERS ROCK! And we got a lovely bright hi-liter yellow volunteer tee and food! Score!

I did not sign up to volunteer on race weekend. Last year my husband and I both did but I decided that with running the full marathon this year I just didn't have it in me (mentally mostly) to occupy myself with that this year. I want to enjoy the expo and try to relax/rest as much as possible the day before the big race.

Today is one week out. To say I am not nervous would be a total understatement. Sure I have put in the training but my mind keeps going back to things I cannot control. The weather. It's been so warm and humid here lately. Race time is 7:30am so we should still have a bit of coolness in the air which will be nice for the start but I know I will be out there running for over 4 hours and by that time the days around here are really warming up. Has my time outside the last couple weeks been enough to get me use to that? I sure hope so. Will it rain? There's a 60% chance according to the forecast today but we all know that can change. I've not had any rainy runs. I haven't ran with soggy shoes and gear. But regardless of the race day forecast this girl plans to have fun and run!

Several people have asked me what my time goal is. A few new girls I met this weekend while volunteering asked my goal for the marathon as well. I have a few times in mind but what I always go back to is this, "I'm going to run, have fun and cross the finish line standing.. or maybe even crawling but whatever happens that day I will finish within the allotted time and collect my medal. The ultimate goal is to FINISH!"

7 days and counting. Let's do it!

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