Quick Update

Sorry for the brief update, but I didn't want to keep people waiting until Wednesday for my Tuesday update (although it's late Tuesday).
In short the marathon was great. I finished! I got to see a lot of D.C. in a very unique way. And now I'll start training for the Austin Marathon that'll take place in February.
I promise a more detailed entry will come soon (hopefully tomorrow) about the race. But for now I'm still very sore and tired and turning in early.

It's Go Time

Okay, it's not really go time, but I've always wanted to say that.
Today was my last "long run" before the marathon, all of eight miles. And I have to say that after runs of 16, 18, 20, etc. eight miles is a nice easy distance.
So I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to be for this.
Packing might not be as easy as training. The forecast seems to vary, from lows of 48-60, to highs of 60-78. Hopefully it'll be the lower of the two, which will make for EXCELLENT marathon weather. I need to make it over to Goodwill sometime in the next few days and buy a top or two that I can wear at the start of the race and be able to shed them along the race route without having to worry about losing a piece of clothing I love.

On a different note, but still marathon related, there is this neat feature on the
MCM website where you can track runners.
so if anyone wants to track me from checkpoint to checkpoint, I think you just have to know how to spell my last name. :)

Decisions decisions

In case you haven't noticed running has become a bit more than a hobby. I tend to have an addictive/obsessive personality, which is why I don't drink, smoke or have any real vices. I'm afraid that they'll become addictions. Running has sort of turned into that. And while I'm careful to make sure it doesn't take over my life or become a true addiction it does sort of trump other activities at times.
Take my current dilemma. There is this play that Conexion wrote about last year. I've stayed in touch with the show's creator as she's tried to bring the production to San Antonio. Well it's finally coming. The only problem is that it's coming the day before the half marathon I was hoping to run in Dallas. So now i have to choose: the play or the run.
Part of me feels like I should do every run I can, because who knows how long I'll really be able to do these sort of races. Eventually life gets hectic and a marathon and 4 half marathons in a year is not reasonable. Heck, a single marathon and the time commitment it requires might not be at all an option in coming years. So I can't figure out what to do.
Usually I make decisions based on: someday am I going to look back and think "I should have done that instead of that."
Unfortunately this isn't one of those decisions that is that easy to make for some reason.
So now I'll sit and ponder this until after the Marine Corps Marathon, which is when I'll make all my plans for the remainder of the race season. In the meantime if anyone has any opinions on this, feel free to share :)

Marathon quote

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
-Emil Zatopek

It's all relative

Running these long distances seems to have changed my perception on shorter distances. For instance, I had to go to San Antonio Community College today. Normally I would park as close to the front as possible. I'd make at least 2 loops around the parking lot looking for something close. Instead I parked about two blocks away from the building I was heading to and made the short trip. Maybe it's just because the weather is FINALLY starting co cool down here. Or maybe it's because "far" is relative to me at this point. Either way, I'm glad that finding a close parking space isn't an issue for me anymore, because it definitely makes parking less stressful :)

It's getting hot in here....

I ran my last training 20 miler on Sunday. I still didn't come in under 4 hours like I would have liked to have, but at least I didn't cramp up for the last 6 miles like I did the first 20 miler. (Shout out to Jennifer Hiller for helping me through the last 3 miles!) So now the taper begins. This weekend I run 12 miles, then the following weekend 10 miles, and then the marathon! I couldn't be more excited. Of course after the way things went in Chicago on Sunday, I've been obsessively checking the weather forecast in D.C. It'll only give me 10 days out, and the forecast calls for highs in the 70s, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for race day.
Yesterday people at work were wondering what the big deal is about 88 degrees and high humidity. "That's pretty normal for us..." "88 isn't even that hot."
Well of course it's normal in places like South Texas, Miami, Louisiana, etc. But most of the people who said this yesterday have never run more than a mile in their life, let alone a marathon. I'd like to think if you've been training in those sort of temperatures you're likely to be okay. But anything above 85 degrees is well, wretched, when you're running 26.2 miles. Heck, it's tough for me to run anything above 10 miles in that kind of weather. The sun beats down on you, the pavement reflects the heat back up at you, the humidity sucks out any fluid you have left in your system, and you're left cramping, sick, confused and falling down.
Training in San Antonio gave me a whole new knowledge of weather and the small difference a degree or two can make. I've learned the large difference in 68 degrees and 70 degrees. It feels downright chilly when it's 68 degrees, especially if there is a breeze and you're midway through a run. 70 can feel oppressive. I had a lot of training runs that began in 72 degree temperatures. Which is why I often started as close to 5:30 am as possible. It's still amazingly humid at that time, but at least you aren't fighting the sun too. 20 minutes after the sun comes up, it just keeps getting hotter. A breeze is a God send, and shade is your new best friend. I can't imagine 88 degrees.
The high in D.C. today is supposed to be 92. Yikes. But they promise a cold front is on it's way and they should be in the high 60s and low 70s by the end of the week. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way.