It's Race Week!

Race week is officially here, and with it comes the apprehension of a worried competitor.  Did I train enough?  Have I thought of everything?  Does it really matter, because there will come a point no matter what when it will suck!  And I'll have to just buckle down and use my mind to keep going.

My motivation has been in the toilet the past few weeks -- probably a product of the high volume of training required.  But I put in the time -- culminating in a final training ride of a 50-mile bike followed immediately by a 10-mile run.  Which sucked.  But I finished it.

Now all I have to do is eat healthy and take care of my body in the meantime.  And stop playing mind games with myself.  I'll give another update later in the week!

3 Weeks to Go!

So I'm three weeks out from the big race day.  It's starting to get real.  I'm trying to keep focused and get the best training possible in before my taper-down period before the race.  I'm also setting some goals too, just like I did for my first marathon.

• Goal that I can live with:  To finish, plain and simple.
• Goal that will make me happy:  To finish under 7 hours 15 minutes.
• Goal that will make me REALLY happy:  To finish under 7 hours.

Yes, you read that correctly.  SEVEN HOURS.  I hope I can do it, but there will be a lot of things up in the air on race day -- like transition times, if I have to do bike maintenance on the course, waiting lines for the port-a-potties (yes, it is seven hours of near-constant Gatorade consumption.  I know I have to account for this).  But all I will do is my best and that's all I can ask for.

I'll keep you posted with any updates!