Thoughts as I enter the taper zone

Wow, in less than 2 weeks I will be starting my very first marathon! It got here quick.

1. Sunday, I ran 18 miles - some of it on part of the MCM course. My coach wanted me to keep a steady pace throughout the run. It is something that I have struggled doing on my long runs. I tend to go out too fast and then fall apart. OR start out too slow and never get up to speed. This Sunday my run was awesome. I kept my pace steady for every mile - except the last when I took a minute off my pace just because I felt good. WOOT! Now I can only hope this is how I feel as I go in for the last 8 miles of the marthon and that I can continue to hold this pace for the whole race.

2. Why is it that ONLY yesterday I realized that I had a pace alert feature on my low-tech garmin? This was immensely helpful in keeping my on pace. I felt like such a dolt when I realized this alert existed. I could have used it all summer. I new it had many other features, just not this.

3. Right quad still talking to me. Lots of rolling, stretching, icing - repeating. It feels a little stiff starting out on a run, but then warms up and feels good. It is good if I keep moving around post-run, but if I sit or stand in one place for too long it gets stiff. I hope it sorts itself out by race day or at least performs as well as it did yesterday for 18 miles.

4. I miss Orangina, my bike. She looks so sad. We haven't been on a ride together since my last triathlon race on September 26th. :-( We are schedule for a ride the first weekend of November up in Gettysburg, PA. This will be a good part of marathon recovery.

5. I am still nervous about Oct 31, but I feel more ready since Sunday's good run.