Yoga Pants Life

Oh my word – the past few weeks have flown by…it’s hard to believe that we are exactly ONE MONTH away from the Chicago Marathon. Like, I can’t even right now you guys. I can’t even.

Life has been busy lately and I’m exhausted and feel like I’m barely making it from day to day. However, things aren’t all bad. The good news? I made it to and from Colorado in once piece and Baxter (one of my beloved kitties) is stable and hasn’t had any seizures since starting medication (unfortunately, he appears to be high most of the day…but the vet said he would adjust soon…as long as he’s not in any pain and we aren’t going overboard to save his life, I’m okay with the decision to have him on medication for now.) The bad news? I haven’t run at all in over a week, nor have I swam. I managed to stay somewhat active in Colorado (hiking and lots of walking) and while being active is great, it’s not marathon training.

With 30 days left to train, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I won’t be as prepared as I’d like to be and I know I can’t go back and ‘make up’ the missed runs. All I can do is move forward. At the very least, even with all the hiccups this year, I’m in way better shape than last year and have done way more running this year than last. So, even though I’m not where I wanted to be, it’s better than what it was at this time last year.

My plan right now is to continue running 4-5 days a week. I’ll do 2-3 shorter runs during the week, one medium run (5-8 miles) and one long run on weekends. I have 4 more ‘long run’ opportunities. I plan on running 14, 17, 20, 10, 26.2. A longer taper would be wonderful, but this is where I’m at right now. I’m also planning on swimming at least 2 days per week.

Other things I’m planning on for the next month? At least 100 oz of water per day (I’ve been slacking so much on this) and I’m going to be working on getting enough quality calories in. I’m also going to limit booze as much as possible and I’m aiming for at least 7 hours of sleep per night…this is all stuff I should be doing marathon training or not, but I really, REALLY need to focus on it now.

I’m pretty darn nervous at this point…but also a little excited. I love Chicago – it’s an amazing city (with really amazing pizza…I might be in the minority, but Chicago > New York style pizza any day!!!) I really don’t have anything other than my ego riding on this, so it doesn’t really matter what happens. Will my pride take a hit? Sure…but it won’t be the first time and unfortunately, it won’t be the last. I just need to finish with a smile on my face (is it just me, or did that sound dirty?)

If nothing else, I plan on purchasing another commemorative half-zip jacket thing (I LOVE mine from last year…thumb holes you guys!! Viva la thumb holes!!!) that I won’t let myself wear unless I cross the finish line. I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason I forced myself to finish last year. I was at the port-a-potties at mile 22…it was my 4th or 5th time having to stop on the course…my stomach was cramping and my lady-parts were chaffed to high heaven (lovely visual, yes? I can’t imagine why I’m still single…) I cried when pulled my pants up because it hurt that bad. I contemplated walking off the course because while there were only 4 miles left…there were FOUR long miles left. But I realized if I walked off the course I’d never forgive myself and I would have wasted $70 on a sweatshirt/jacket thing I couldn’t wear. I live for athleisure wear. You bet your ass I shuffled to the finish line and that shirt was the first thing I put on after I showered all the failure off.

Speaking of the finish line, I just remember a volunteer hugging me at the finish and congratulating me and telling me how awesome I was. I didn’t feel awesome with my turtle-like finish and I was sweaty and gross…and crying. But I’m pretty sure I will never forget that moment and how nice she was. The whole city was so supportive and the crowd support was amazing. It’s what made me want to try again.

…and now I’m crying.

I’m signing off for now so that I can finish my run with some daylight left.