4 days til the race...

Today is supposed to be a rest day...but....I took the pup on a 45 min walk and did yoga.  That counts as resting right?  Well I'm still nervous about this weekend, but after yoga and lots of stretching the last two days my sore muscles are virtually no more.  I think my dog is enjoying the tapering period since he gets many more walks and a bit more attention.

In the spirit of relaxing I'm going to a new restaurant with friends tonight, poco a poco, and it's a tapas style latin place.  I'm hoping the food is good, but if it's not I still get to spend some time with friends before I head home to begin packing for the weekend.  (I have to start early or I'll forget something.)  I'm also considering revamping my playlist for the marathon and adding a few new songs!  This is going to be a great weekend!!

I need to through out a big GOOD LUCK to the Cincinnati Reds, they are playing their first playoff game since 1990!  The city is a buzz of excitement.

Totally started to freak yesterday...

Yesterday I realized that it's was exactly one week until I run the Chicago marathon.  Up until this point I've been excited and I felt relatively ready since I had completed the training.  Yesterday as Jonah and I were running errands I began to get the dreaded tapering blues.  There was a mini freak out when I starting thinking about all the bad things that could happen.  This morning I got up and did a short run, but I'm still feeling nervous.  Let's help that watching spirit of the marathon tonight will help get me excited and less nervous about Sunday 10.10.10.  Only 6 days until the race!

20 miler

Saturday I did the weekly long run of.....20 miles.  It was a pretty intense run.  I got up had some coffee and an english muffin with an egg on it.  I headed out at about 6:45 into super nice weather and took a fairly slow pace.  My hip has still been a bit tight so before heading out I applied some heat to my hip and did some extra stretching.  It took about 4 miles until I felt all the way warmed up.  Honestly, during the run I didn't feel that bad.  To pass the time while running I gave myself checkpoints that I had to go to.  Here's how it worked:  I gave myself permission to walk, but I had to wait to evaluate how I felt at specific checkpoints that were every several miles.  It helped to visualize the course only to the next checkpoint instead of miles.  I tried some new fuel this week while running.  I tried some cliff shot blocks and powerbar energy chews.  Both products worked out pretty well, and I didn't have any stomach issues with them.

After arriving home I was stretching and when I took my shoes and socks off I got a huge shock.....my big toe was covered in a blister.  I had no idea that I was getting a blister at all.  Then, I hopped into the ice bath with extra ice since it was an extra long run.

Luckily, this week is a three day weekend and I have an extra day to take it easy.