Chad's Pep Talk

I talked to Chad last night about everything and anything marathon related I could think of. It's been really nice to have someone there for me who's been through it before (many times before.) Since I was training alone I really need that support and encouragement. He always seems to know what to say to calm me down and get me motivated. Really he's like a coach, brother, and partner all in one. And for that I will be eternally grateful!

It's so strange to think a mere 14 months ago I was standing in the drizzle of London watching my first marathon, the Flora London Marathon, and hypothesising that I might one day run a marathon. Well here I am 14 months later 3 days away from completing that mightiest of feats. I also made a promise to Chris & Chad on that cool, rain soaked morning: at my first marathon I would put Xtine on my shirt. People put their names on their shirts so that spectators can yell out their names along with the words on encouragement. Well by this point both of the guys had taken to calling me this so it was a promise. I intend to see it out!

What's even more strange is the transformation I've come through in the 16 months I have been running. Last January when you asked me what I thought about running I would have told you that anyone who runs, especially outside, it absolutely out of their freaking minds! Well clearly that mentality is gone, because I will be 'running' outside for 26.2 miles on Saturday. I know people decide to run marathons and do their 3-4 months of training and that's that, but for not running at all, hating it even to a full marathon in a little over a year has to be worth something!

Return to the Ice

I returned to figure skating lessons tonight. I was a little scared because I've been off of the ice for 2 months and I don't want to hurt myself right before the marathon. The apprehension pretty much all went away once I got out there. It was kind of like ridding a bicycle, but slipperier. I was a little rusty on some things and stiff as well, but I expected all of that with the absence. I'm not sure I like the new teacher, but I think she's still working out a system too. We pretty much reviewed a lot of basic things and forward movements, nothing backwards or on one foot. I was hoping to move forward in this class not just maintain. The only new thing I learned was a T stop. I'm just glad to be back out there! It seems weird now to pile on a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, and jeans to go to the rink when a few months ago that was considered stripping down!

Little John and Robin Hood Running Through the Forest

So I'm slightly obsessed with the BBC America series Robin Hood, of which I now own season 1 on DVD. Which is fantastic news for me! Anyway I did indeed get different shoes on Sunday morning and needed to give them a go. So I popped in the DVD and ran for the length of an episode which actually felt pretty good. The only problem I had been having was that it kind of felt like I had my 4th stress fracture in the right ankle, so it was taped up. This created a weird sensation in my feet, but I think these shoes are much better. They are similar to my first pair of running shoes which I loved! Fingers crossed these are the shoes I need and that I'll be fine on Saturday!!!

New Shoes

So I got new shoes just after I was in Kentucky and they felt awesome in the store. But ever since then I've had an issue with my toes going numb really quickly. I know that 's not good so I've tried varying degrees of lace tightness and in different places, nothing is helping. I also think they are a size too big. Good thing my running store has a 30 return/exchange no questions asked shoe policy. These are only hurting me! I went out today ready to do the 18-20 miler, but was stopped about 2 miles in because of the shoes. I will be going to the store tomorrow and sorting this out! Looks like the long run will be Saturday which is only 1 week away from the marathon. YIKES!

I Hate Being a Great Procrastinator!

Seriously between my master level procrastination skills and the sever thunderstorms all weekend, I'm so screwed for this marathon in less than 2 weeks!!! It also doesn't help that my body doesn't let me function, or wake-up, with less than 6 hours of sleep. I mean I'm grateful for it but it's really messing up my training schedule. The other thing that's severely hindering my progress is that I'm working at the horse track until nearly 1 AM every Friday night which is making the early Saturday morning runs nearly impossible. So I've been trying to do the longer runs after work, but it seems that whenever I'm planning to do one it decides to tornado out that night and I refuse to run that far on a treadmill!!! Anyway Dad wasn't getting home until late and Mom & fended for ourselves for dinner. We were planning on having Dad grill some turkey burgers but that was now out of the question, so we were left to do it ourselves on the dodgy grill. We opted for the George Foreman instead. I've decided that if I want to keep my parents on my good side, i.e. be supportive of my travel and avoid the Spanish Inquisition, it is best to be as helpful as possible around the house. Tonight that meant help with dinner, so looks like I'll be running inside tonight. After a lovely dinner of turkey burgers (with a light coating of Laughing Cow garlic & herb cheese and 1,000 island salad dressing) and yellow rice I was back on that damn treadmill. I'm really starting to loath that thing! For any of you runners out their I'm sure you're not surprised by this and probably surprised at how long it took me to get to that point. Anyway didn't last long before that damn cold surfaced again and really hindered my breathing. I just hope I can muscle through my 18-20 miler tomorrow! Yes I'm aware that I'm probably a little too close to the marathon to be doing those distances, but I haven't done them yet and it will help me more to do them than it will to skip it all together. If and when I do another one of these, I'm making training the #1 priority and only having one job, not an additional part-time job as well.