[3] Woo Hoo!

ORN:  This morning, I ran my last taper run -- three miles in 27'04".  That's a result to brag about, if you're me, but I was supposed to run it at marathon pace [9'19"].  Oops.  For the first time all season, I ran a tempo run nearly 20 seconds per mile too fast.  Oh well.  I am done: done with running until Sunday.  That's my fun day.  My I-have-to-run-all-morning day.

 

What remains for me to do is pack and keep my mood up.  Since yesterday, I have been pampering myself in order to keep my spirits high.  For example, rather than listening to DJ Nano on random shuffle, I am only listening to a play-list of my most highly rated songs.  Also, last night, I treated myself to some St. Bernardus Abt 12 as I did my chores.  I figure, at this point, I cannot do anything else to physically prepare for the race.  I'm as fit as I am going to get.  What I can do now is focus and keep the blues away for the big day.  If I can go into the race confident, stress-free, and happy, then I think I will have a much better time.  If I go into it depressed and fretting, as I am prone to doing, then I won't have nearly as much fun.

 

Sure, I've been fretting some.  I have worried over my goals, which I am keeping to myself, but I've decided it's foolish to spend too much mental energy on my finishing time.  I'm not going to win the race.  I have no intention of running another marathon.  I couldn't do much worse than my last one, so I am almost certainly going to do better.  I may as well go out there and enjoy the experience, enjoy the crowds, enjoy Chicago.  There will be hundreds of thousands of people, music, cheers squads, and of course, Chicago itself in all its glory.  I'll be entertained through all 26.2 miles, that's for sure.  Maybe I should view the race as a sight-seeing tour in which I run through the city instead of taking a bus or a guided walking tour?

 

In any case, I am done with training, and I couldn't be happier about that.  Next post:  my Chicago Marathon race report.  See you on the flip side.