I am SO STOKED. Last night an Amazon box came int he mail, and i knew it was my bday present and I hoped it was a GPS system for running.

And it WAS!

I got to open it early and test it out this morning. It is the forerunner 205, Garmin model and it is awesome. I saw how fast I was going, how far i was going and for how long I was running.

I did only 3.4 miles this morning with a pace of 9;45. I’m happy with that.

The watch would have been GREAT for my long training runs. You can program it to tell you when to turn around, when you go below a certain pace. You can match your old routes. You can have it show you where to go to get back on track if you are following a certain path and get off of that path.

I can’t wait to test this out with a long run! I’ll wear it for my marathon, maybe-just worried I might see the pace, get nervous and go faster than I need to go.

But once this marathon is over and I begin training for San Diego I’m going to use it on all of my long runs. I no longer have to map out a run! I can just put on the GPS and GO GO GO

Dang my husband rocks!!

I can’t believe it is almost here! I’m so excited! I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night so I lay in bed thinking about my long runs. I do this sometimes when I can’t sleep. I did it at the dentist office the other day as well. Seems that the newest relaxation technique for me is thinking about running. Guess that isn’t a bad thing though!

Last night I thought well, I can do 13 miles no problem. At 13 I will think I’m almost at 17, which was my longest run several times before the 20. At 17 I’ll think only 3 more to 20 and at twenty I’ll think only six to go, which is less than an hour . When I get that close, if I get tired, I always think about how great it will be to walk in my front door and see my two kids and my husband waiting for me. On Sunday I’ll think about how great it will be to cross that finish line and find them there, cheering me on.

Can’t believe it is so close!

I’m so ready to run again. I mean, really run, not three miles here, four miles there. I need a good six, ten, fourteen miler. Or a 26.2. Guess that will come soon enough!

So I’m in the middle of my tapering schedule. I’ve only done a 3 mile run so far this week, on Monday. My longest two runs in the past two weeks were 12 and 8 respectively.

Yesterday I started to feel a little down.  I was tired and frustrated and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was wrong.

This morning my husband woke up early to hit the gym, and I realized exactly what it was: I’m missing my long runs.

I recall in the past when I’ve gotten a small injury and had to take a few days or weeks off of running to heal. Those weeks were really rough on me emotionally. i need running to keep everything level: to erase the stress and get my good vibes going.

I haven’t given up running of course, but i have adjusted my schedule drastically. In fact, this past week I ran ten miles less than I have been running each week. that’s a huge difference! so even though I am still running, my runs are much shorter, and this week I’ll only do three instead of four.

In addition, yesterday I ran over my big toe with the chair. It immediately began to swell and I immediately began to cry. My biggest fear; I had broken it and would not be able to run the race.

luckily, that didn’t happen. It is still sore this morning but not as bad as it was, and not as swollen either. I’ll continue to ice it and rest this week. I had planned to be on my feet as little as possible anyway, but now ‘ll really take care to baby that toe.

And then I’ll do the 26, and I can’t wait! I can’t wait to get out there and run, run, run.

I spent last night reading through my marathon book. I really do not want to only run three, four and two miles this week before race day. I already feel as though I’ve had to stop running a lot, since doing 20 miles. My longest runs have been 12 an 8  in the past two weeks. Yet in my book even the strongest of runners drops back to 3 and 4 mile runs the last week.

It’s amazing what our bodies get used to. When I began running I couldn’ t do more than three miles, I couldn’t run back to back and the idea of going 26.2 was mind blowing.

Now I run two six milers each week, and then one day I do six and the next do 4. My mileage has increased and I’m missing going more than 8 miles! I want to do 13! I want to do 15!

Ah, but 26.2 scares the crap out of me!

6 days and counting . . .

So, I ran my last ‘long run’ this morning-8 miles. Really, it was nothing. I’m running two, six mile runs a week now, so this was just a little bit extra time. i didn’t carry my water pack or gel packs, I just hit the streets as I normally would do and the only issue was that an hour in I got pretty hungry. But then the run was over and I realized how much I love those long runs. I think I’ll start doing a 6, 8 and a 4 as my weekday runs from now on, and hang on to those long Sunday morning runs at 11 or more  miles once this marathon is over.

And it is going to be here soon! one week and one day! Next Sunday I will be finished. ALl of this training, early morning runs, three pairs of running shoes in the last 5 months . . . all done. I can’t believe it!

I’m excited but afraid. I’m worried about the weather the most. I can’t run int he heat, under the sun. that’s why I do such early morning runs now. But, I know it is only one day, four and a half hours, and I can do it.

I was thinking about it like this today: I typically run two, six mile runs a week. The marathon is just four, six mile runs, plus two additional miles.

On race day, I will think about it like this.

First six miles, just three to go.

Second six miles, halfway there.

Third six miles, just get through it.

Last six miles, just an hour left.

then I’ll have about twenty minutes, but by that time I’ll be so stoked that it is almost over that nothing will stop me!
I can’t believe I’m so close now.

My stomach has butterflies just thinking about it!!

Less than two weeks, actually!
Tonight my daughters and I painted my marathon shirt.

On the back we wrote go mommy! 26.2, and then, For my mom: strokes stink!

I can’t wait! i have to download some tunes onto my ipod before race day. My husband got me a fifteen dollar card for songs knowing that i wanted them for the race, how cool is that? I’m going to have to start thinking about what I want to listen to during that run.

today I swam for half an hour. it was good to be back in the pool; it has been a few weeks since I’ve gotten to swim.

Tomorrow is a six miler. Then only 8 on Saturday! Yikes! Then just one week and one day until the marathon. i can’t believe it is almost here! wow, how time flies when you are having fun running . . .

When I was mapping out my twenty mile run I loaded the girls into the car to check the mileage.

We headed out to the ocean and stared at the waves as we drove. After a bit, my oldest daughter said, “Wow, you’re going to run this far?”

I told her yes, this would be what mommy did while she was sleeping on Saturday morning.

“This is a really long way,” she told me, shaking her head, her eyes wide.

I laughed and told her yes, this would be twenty miles, the furthest I had ever gone.

And then she said what ever running mother wants to hear. “When I get big, I’m going to run this far too!”