It’s almost here. I can feel it. My body can feel it. My nerves are on fire and the marathon is on my mind. I can’t really get it out of my mind actually. I catch myself picturing my run at least a few times every day. And with that mental picture, my stomach drops!
I don’t know about other marathoners, but a marathon is really the only race I get nervous for anymore. Since my last marathon (October 2009), I’ve run quite a few races and felt relatively calm before almost all of them. I knew they weren’t THE RACE, the BIG race – they were just training for the real deal. I did end up racing and setting PRs in many of those races, but I never experienced the full-on nervousness. Oh the nerves.
So it’s Thursday and the race is only a few short days away. So it’s time to get serious. My birthday indulgence is done and I am on a strict carb-load, hydrate and eat-right plan. I fully support carb-loading 3-4 days before a marathon, and not gorging yourself on carbs the night before.
For all you marathoners out there – when do you start your carb-loading? And how do you prep the few days before?
So Wednesday truly began my carb-loading. I started off at breakfast with a big bowl of original Puffins and some blueberries on top.
Then for lunch, I heated up some leftover pasta with chicken from Monday night.
Afternoon snacks were Chobani with Kashi Heart to Heart cereal mixed in and three clementines.
After work, I headed to the gym for a quick run. It wasn’t exactly raining outside, but the skies looked ominous, so I played it safe. I ran 3 miles in 26:28 – a nice and easy pace. It was hard going that slow and I actually thought I felt tired, which made me even more nervous. I should not be tired after 3 miles – did I take my taper too far?!
I left the gym and headed home and threw together a quick dinner of baked tilapia with a large side of rice.
I have been seriously ravenous lately! And I’m not running a lot right now, so it feels a little weird. After dinner I was still hungry, so I ate a healthy dessert of strawberries and blueberries sprinkled with crushed puffins on top.
This hit the spot and I was FINALLY full. Again, I tried to go to bed early because I know that I likely won’t get too much sleep the night before the marathon, so I want to be as well rested during the week as possible.
And I had a strange dream about the marathon last night. My husband and I got there and he decided to help me warm up. We ended up getting lost and running like 11 miles before the race even started! There was road work going on and we had to take a detour and then we were sprinting to the start of the race and I was exhausted! Oh the stress.
How do you guys cope with nerves before a race?! Help!
Have a great Thursday all – I am trying to put the race out of my mind for the entire day….starting now!
Eat, Read, Run 