It's almost D-Day...

I can't believe it's almost here. By this time tomorrow, I will be a marathoner. I will have completed the NYC marathon, thus popping my "marathon cherry."

How am I feeling? Well, you name it, I'm feeling it. I'm incredibly excited, unbelievably anxious, a bit scared, a bit sad that my family can't be there, but very happy that my babysitting families will be on the route, and just overall in disbelief that this is actually happening! I have to say that already, this has been a life changing experience. I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.

This week has been quite an eventful one! It seems unreal to me that less than a week ago, I was still performing at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. In one week, I have completed my favorite professional acting gig, packed up all of my belongings, said goodbye to friends, moved away from my boyfriend (without knowing when we will be in the same city again), moved back to New York, and prepared to run a marathon. Needless to say, I've been rather emotional this week! I've cried both happy and sad tears more times that I can count. In a strange way though, I'm grateful that all this has happened at one time. It has reminded me how human I am, how strong I am, and helped make me so conscious of all of the emotion that comes with running a marathon. I love that I teared up with excitement when I walked into the marathon expo to get my number. I love that I tear up with a bittersweet recognition that my boyfriend and my parents aren't here. I love that the sheer smell of city air gets me excited to run right now! I have to say - I wouldn't trade this emotional ride for the world.

Now, as I sit and type this, I'm only 14 hours away from the start of my race. All of my hard work, the races I ran, the long training runs, the discipline - is going to be put to the test tomorrow. And it's going to be worth it!

I promise a full update within 48 hours after the marathon. Thank you to everyone who has been following this blog. Thank you for your support, your encouragement, your advice, and for celebrating with me along the way! This has been an incredibly journey - and I cannot wait for it all to come to fruition tomorrow.

Signed,
Your-about-to-lose-her-marathon-virginity-runner,
Kelly

Doing the "taper"...

For the past week, I have been on what is commonly called "the taper." The taper is the portion of my training where I taper down my overall mileage, including my long runs, for the final weeks leading up to the marathon. It is supposed to allow my body to rest, recover, and store up energy and strength in preparation for the upcoming 26.2 miles. How is it going? Well, here's the truth:

- I missed my mid-week runs the first week of the taper. Performing four days a week, combined with absolutely terrible, cold and rainy weather... I just kept finding reasons not to run. Truth be told, I actually just flat out forgot to run one day. This concerned me.

- I ran my first "long run" of the taper - which was only 9 miles. (I know - ONLY 9 miles... but when you just ran 20 the week before, 9 is almost laughable.) Luckily, even though I had not actually completed a run since one week prior when I ran 20 miles - this run went well and felt easy.

- I am back on track this week, running 3 miles yesterday, 5 miles today - and I'm all set for 3 miles tomorrow. In a normal training lifetime, I would have a day of rest between these three runs, but as I perform all day Saturday and Sunday, with Monday as my long run day and Tuesday as my day of rest... there's really no other option. As Nike tell us... I "just do it."


Now here's the thing that I don't think anyone tells you about the taper... It feels WEIRD. I've been working my brain, my body, and my spirit up and up and up this past month and a half. I've been constantly breaking personal records in distance and in overall ability! I have always gone on my long runs with gel packs, and back up water bottles, and my Starburst... and now I only need one water bottle, and maybe one or two Starbursts for good measure. I run 3 miles, and I feel TIRED - because I'm pushing too hard. When I know I have a longer distance to go, I seem to pace myself better. These short runs are troubling me a bit!

Interestingly enough, I have only been able to run in the evenings this week. By doing so I've discovered that running in the evening is HORRIBLE for me. I'm either hungry - or I'm too "full" from the snack I had in the afternoon. I cramp more, I feel sluggish, and I just want the run to end. If I run in the mornings, I feel refreshed, ready to start the day, and I'm only hungry after running long distances. The lesson? As much as I hate getting up early - the morning is DEFINITELY my time to run. Good thing the marathon is in the morning! :)

So, here I am... "tapering" away. I'm not sure how I feel about all this just yet. I suppose I just need to keep my mind focused on what lies ahead. After I finished those 20 miles, I knew I could do this marathon. I still "know" that - but right now my body is having a hard time feeling that way. Encouragement is welcome. I've got less than 10 days until this marathon - so anything that helps me mentally prepare is worth it.

Thank you all again for joining me on this journey... I can't believe it's almost D-Day!!! Or should I say, M-Day!!! :)

Signed,
Your-anxious-to-run-the-marathon-runner,
Kelly

The long runs are complete!

I was unable to update the blog last week - but I cruised right on through my 18 mile run! I even had a running buddy, who managed 17 of the 18 miles with me! It was awesome :)

And today... I RAN 20 MILES!!!!!

I honestly can't believe it. Well, no - I can believe it. It's just so surreal still for me to say (or type) those words out loud. Never in all my years prior to this one did I ever think I would have stories of workouts (especially runs) that lasted more than an hour. Today? I ran 20 miles in 3 hours and 27 minutes. I actually ran for 3 hours and 27 minutes!!! I didn't even hit a "wall" as I was expecting. I kept fueling myself with water, PowerBar Gels, and Starbursts - and everything just worked. It was amazing!

What I am realizing is more amazing than the quality of the runs, or what happens during my runs... is my overall feeling of self-worth. I feel so accomplished, so elated, so PROUD with each run that I complete. Training for the marathon has proved not only to improve my physical fitness - but my self esteem too. Many of you who read this blog have told me "I could never do that!" and I'm here to tell you that you can! More importantly, I'm telling you that YOU SHOULD. It doesn't have to be an actual marathon that you train for, but find some goal that may seem just outside your abilities at the moment... figure out how you could "possibly" accomplish it... and GO FOR IT. You will not regret it!

From here until marathon day, I taper down my mileage. The science behind it is that I have now trained my body to physically handle the distance, and now I need to scale down the distance so that my body is well rested and ready to tackle the 26.2 miles of the marathon. Next week my long run will only be 9 miles, and then 8 miles the week before the marathon. My mid-week runs (which have been 5 miles, 8 miles, and 5 miles) go back to 3 miles, 5 miles and 3 miles. I will spend the coming weeks really honing in on my mental training as well as my diet. I don't want to be overindulging in carbs, as any weight gain would be detrimental to my knees, but I need to make sure that just over more than 50% of my calories come from carbohydrates. With protein, good fats, fiber, and all my vitamins and minerals included in correct proportion - I should be ready to rock and roll come marathon day! :)

In exactly 20 days, from this very moment, I will have just finished the biggest goal of my entire life. I look forward to my personal experience and to sharing it with all of you. Thank you all for joining me on this incredible journey! :)

Signed,
Your-physically-ready-to-run-a-marathon-runner,
Kelly