And here we are; Chicago is upon me! As for the big day, I think I'm going to have some pain to deal with. My left leg is still not healthy; foot and hamstring are quite fickle at the moment. I'm also a bit concerned with the weather, as it looks like the temp will be above 70 at the start, with it climbing above 80 by the finish. None-the-less, my plan stays the same: run with the 4:30 pace group. This speed should allow me to function with minimal irritation to my leg and should give me a chance at finishing below my PW (personal worst) in the marathon. As for nutrition, I'll have around five GUs with me, and probably a few Endurolytes as it looks like they might come in handy due to the weather. Most importantly, I plan to have as good a time as possible. Chicago should be quite the experience, and perhaps I'll never run it again, so I want to live it.
For exercise this week, I've basically went with a couple of sessions on the elliptical machine, some push-ups one night, and a lot of stretching. Also, as is common while at college, I have walked A LOT! I didn't run my miles, but I walked them none-the-less. As I have a lot of travel to do tomorrow (starts at around 8AM, ends around 4PM), my game plan is to stretch when possible. My legs do not like to be folded up, so I hope to move around, stretch, and keep the knees from locking up. No running or other such exercise from here on out. I think you need to let the muscles rest before a run and soak up as much glycogen as possible.
Chicago has been interesting and fun to train for. I distinctly remember thinking people training in Houston for a Fall marathon were crazy, but now it's Fall, and look what I did; I trained for a marathon. I look forward to the next few weeks, as I need to rest my legs and try to get healthy. Though I don't think a doctor can do much to help, I may go to Sokolow anyway, just to make sure rest is all that I should be getting.
I hope that I come out of this run healthy and with a continued commitment to running. Between signing up for Hood To Coast, the warm-up races, Sunmart (maybe, though probably not), Houston, and maybe London, there's a lot of running to potentially do. I have been afraid that if I were hurt, and Chicago went poorly, that I would want to take an extended break from running, or who knows, go back to just half-marathons. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but I feel the time for that move isn't quite upon me. The last three years were my "train and run one" era. I feel like I'm moving into a "continuously train and run many" era (aka, the "Many Medals" era). I would like that era to end of my own accord and not do to injury or a bad experience.
The original purpose of this blog was to raise money for the ACS (which I've completed) and to chronicle my training as I get ready to tackle Oprah in her home town (looking grim, but you never know). As for the future of this blog, I'm not sure. I like blogging, but as this one had a very special purpose, perhaps it's time to end it and start anew with a more long term blog topic. I have a limited readership, but perhaps that, along with the therapeutic value of getting the little man out of my head and onto the screen, is worth the time. There will certainly be a race wrap up, and hopefully, much rejoicing.
Bye for now.
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