Boston is Here!

Exactly four years ago I met with my coach at the time at a local Starbucks. It was there that I first said the following words out loud: "I want to run the Boston Marathon." My goodness gracious... four years ago. Can you believe that?

For those that have been following my quest to qualify for Boston, this weekend has been a long time coming, as Marathon Monday is just a few days away.

This week I've had several folks ask me:

1. How are you feeling?
2. Are you ready?
3. Can we track you during the race?

I'll answer the last question first so that those that don't care how I'm feeling can close their browser and go about their day.

How to track me during the race: 

Simply text the my Bib Number (4835) to the number 234567 using your US mobile phone. You will then receive an sms text response confirming that you're following me. You’ll receive an alert each time I cross the following course markers:

• 10K (6.2 miles)
• Half-Marathon (13.1 miles)
• 30K (18.6 miles)
• 35K (21.7 miles)
• 40K (24.8 miles)
• Finish (26.2 miles)

My start time is approximately 10:00a local in Boston, approximately 9:00a CT. Let me know if you end up following; it'll be neat to feel some "virtual support"!

How I'm Feeling:

That about sums it up. I've written briefly about tapering before while training for the Houston Marathon. While I intend to go into more detail in a later post, here's what you need to know about tapering.

It's the point at which you allow your body to recover from typically the hardest work you've put in throughout all of training. Your body is used to a certain type of exercise and then all the sudden the workload decreases. Your body goes into repair-mode, which comes with a set of side effects. Some people get cranky, others feel hyper, giddy, or anxious. Because the body is repairing itself the legs can hurt, ache, and have a general sense of discomfort. You notice little pains that you hadn't noticed throughout training.

Because of all of this, runs during the taper typically don't feel as good. This has a psychological impact on athletes and often causes them to doubt their race-readiness. 

I've had just about all of these tapering symptoms, plus some emotional instances thrown in. Four years this has been on my mind, and it's here! I've had anxiety, doubts, and really bad runs lately. When people ask me how I'm feeling I typically respond with "crappy". But guess what... this overall sense of what some refer to as "Taper Madness", this undeniable crappy feeling that rears its' head, is 100% expected and natural. To feel crappy is a temporary part of the plan.

So, am I ready? 

You're damn right I'm ready. I'll see you on the other side!