Here is the much anticipated Lansing Marathon training recap.  I know.  It’s exciting.  Control yourselves.  I DO find it very helpful to put together a training recap though.  Kind of corny, but it helps me to look back over my training cycle – both the details of the workouts and a more general picture.  It usually gives me confidence and perspective going into the marathon.

• The training plan:  provided by Coach MB from Lifetime, though I didn’t workout with the group much at all this time.
• Weeks of training: 17  (including last week of taper next week)
• Miles run: 695
• Long runs: 14 miles (1 times); 15 miles (2 times); 16 miles (3 times); 17 miles (1 time); 20 miles (3 times); 21 miles (1 time); 22 miles (1 time)
• Tune up races: Polar Dash Half Marathon (1:40:33)
• Other things of note:  My paces on most of my runs were faster this time; typically in the 8:30 – 8:45 range.  MP was around 8:00 – 8:10.  This was also the most 20+ milers that I’ve done in a training cycle (5).  But, of note, my last 20+ miler (22 miles) was 4 weeks out from race day instead of the “usual” 3 weeks out from race day.  (So last long runs were 22, 17, 16, 10.5).  I’ll be interested to see how these changes pan out for me.
• Extra stuff:  pilates several times a week.   I had such good intentions of doing cross training and weights, but that never happened.  I just couldn’t do it all and those were things that I sacrificed this time.
• Injury:  None!  However, my right hamstring still feels a little off/tweaked at times, ever since August of last year when I did something to it.  Nothing major, but off.
• Weight:  started at 115, not sure where I am now but if I had to guess I would say about 118.

So those are the numbers, but how do I feel about Lansing?  I feel calm, peaceful, excited and ready.  I feel like this training cycle, more so than any of the previous 8, has prepared me – both mentally and physically – to tackle the distance and leave everything that I have out there.  I feel like I’m in a really good place physically.  I feel strong and fast.  I feel like I’m peaking at just the right time.  And all that is good.  And important.

But, more importantly, I feel like I am in the best place mentally that I’ve ever been before a marathon.  As you know, I’ve been through an enormous amount of life stress since last Fall, with the divorce, adjusting to life a single parent and several really big trials. And this stress carried through the entire training cycle.  But I feel like I’m in a good place, a better place, now.  I feel like I’m moving forward in a positive direction and I feel excited about the new opportunities that are out there.  Mostly, I feel like this life stress has made me really really strong and comfortable with who I am, where I’m going and what I want out of life.  In terms of the marathon, the life stress I’ve been through has made me realize two things:  1) It’s just a race.  It might be a great day, it might not be.  But in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a race.  There are so many more important things. So relax.  And enjoy.  2)  I can handle anything.  I have learned that I am tougher than I thought I was.  I have dealt with some major lows and hard times during this training cycle, but I made it.  And I am not just ok, but great.  So even though there will be low points in the marathon, really, they are just low points in a marathon.  I can get through them.

So what do I feel like I’m trained for, time-wise?  I think on a great day I could do 3:32ish.  Let’s hope April 22nd is a great day!

One week from tonight I’ll be in Lansing trying to sleep before race day.  Hopefully I won’t need to make a 9 o’clock noise complaint call to the front desk like at Grandma’s Marathon last year.  Man, I’m getting old and lame.  🙂