Sam’s right – we failed at this blog. Wah wahhhh. But, we promise it’s because we’ve been so busy training, and it has not been easy!

About two months ago, halfway into my training, and for the first time I can remember, my body reached its limit. Likely contributing factors for this: not stretching, not paying attention to several consecutive painful runs, (probably) celebrating my birthday after a 17 mile run and (definitely) trying to run 18 miles with a throat infection. Said throat infection became bronchitis and painful runs became impossible runs.

One orthopedist visit, one MRI (to confirm I didn’t have a stress fracture), multiple doctors visits for throat infection/brochitis, two rounds of antibiotics and twice-weekly physical therapy sessions later, I am finally feeling better, and slightly (very slightly!) more confident about going into the marathon.

My manager at work gave me a book about training that has also helped tremendously. It’s called: Marathon: You Can Do It, and as the title suggests, it presents a pretty realistic version of marathon training that actually makes running 26.2 miles seem attainable. It taught me to train easier and more successfully and even has tips for avoiding the mental ‘wall’ that runners inevitably hit. As the title also suggests, the book has its cheesy moments (repeating ‘Relax, Power, Glide’ over and over is supposed to help push through the mental wall); nevertheless, I have not gone anywhere without this book in the past few weeks. It’s like my security blankie – something I no longer have because my parents cut it up when I was younger, a fact I recently learned.

Moving on, I am including a photo of Cape Cod, where I stayed with my family for a week of vacation at the height of body saying stop. Spending at least one hour a day running slowly and/or walking, stretching and strength training, I was able to complete a 20 mile run at the end of the week. A few weeks ago I completed a 23 mile run, my longest ever, during which I ran from the upper west side to Chelsea Piers along the Hudson River all the way up to the GW bridge…and back the same route.

So, just TWO DAYS from the marathon, I’m running more slowly, but am going into the race with the sole goal of finishing. (Sam, you’re correct – no surprises, sadly this will probably not be your fastest marathon!) And, marathon weekend is also a chance for a long overdue college friend reunion. See you all this weekend!