Right Now

Find me more motivation....I dare you.....this song is just about as good as it gets for spurring you on to reach a little higher, move a little faster, and generally remember that your life is going to pass you by if you don't get up off the sofa.

Pride. I gots it.
I am 8 weeks out, 7 if you count the taper, and today I ran 10 miles.
I plan to train to 12 miles and let the adrenaline of race day carry me the last 1.1 mile.
After the past two weeks of dejection and self-doubt, I NEEDED today. This morning's run started out with something to prove, and I came home tired, but feeling confident that I'm going to cross that finish line. As if it needed to get better, there is a glimmer of possibility that I may beat my time goal.

So what did I do right?
I have really been working to improve my hydration this week, particularly yesterday. I am no longer any fun on Friday nights, it's a couple sips of wine and off to bed early. I drove the route yesterday and (thanks for helping via phone, Mom!) marked off 2-mile intervals for gatorade drops. Nothing like dropping bags of ice, water, and gatorade in people's yards at 5:50 in the morning - I was waiting to be cornered by someone's territorial dog... All my clothes, deodorant, the whole nine yards were set out before bed last night. An entire powerbar for breakfast, one final potty run, and I was out the door. In a bit cooler temps, just so you know.

What a huge, huge psychological advantage not to have to worry about water or electrolytes! I knew the run would be broken down into 2-mile chunks, just like race day, and I could just do them and tick them off, one by one. A perfect strategy, to focus on something small rather than one large, sweaty, tiring block of running. The mystery of the morning was how I managed to run the first 2 miles at a pace MUCH FASTER than I typically run, even on the dreadmill. I'm pleased, because it means I may be able to spend time working on speed instead of just cranking miles out, but it can be a concern because going out too fast on race day can ultimately kick me where the sun don't shine. Do you need to run faster? Add this to your playlist: Don't Rain On My Parade from the Glee soundtrack.

At any rate, I have the rest of my weekend to enjoy and I'm hungry enough to eat a burrito the size of Guatemala. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend too, burrito or not.

Right now
It's your tomorrow
It's everything
Catch that magic moment, do it right here and now
It means everything.....

(and yes, right now a bowl of soup would be nice)