Less Than A Week To Go

Oh Cleveland, this is the time of year that I am not a proud resident of this area.  It has been a cold and blistery few days and it has 'somewhat' impeded on my running.  Granted I only missed one run this week and it was a taper run, I think I will be fine.  I plan on running once on maybe Monday and once on Wednesday, both real short runs just to keep my head in the game.  For the most part, I wanted to come here and reflect a little bit on the current situation.

To start on a positive note, I am very excited for this marathon.  I believe that with the Cleveland Marathon back in May, I was just not ready for it on any level.  Heading to Oklahoma for a wedding mixed in with an injury threw off my training for four of the final six weeks.  When the marathon finally came around, I was just not physically nor mentally prepared for it.  The biggest memory I have from that day was running and even as soon as mile 8 wondering to myself 'Why am I even doing this?'

However, for the Baltimore Marathon, I feel I am heading in a completely different direction.  I completed two long runs of 21 miles in preparation and feel that in my current state I have the ability to wake up and say 'why not run 21 miles today?' and just do it.  I am excited for the marathon too.  Recently I broke the 100 lb weight mark while training for this marathon as I reached 185 lbs.  It has been quite a journey but I have reached a mile stone that I feel is the biggest motivator I have for crossing that finish line next Saturday.  I know I previously said I wanted to be 175 by race day, but that was a little ambitious.  I am at a point where weight loss is EXTREMELY difficult and maybe even unneeded.  After the marathon, I plan on spending the winter putting on some light muscle and working towards winning a 5k (made a new PR of 18:00 a couple weeks ago too!)

I am heading into this final week of 'training' however there is very little actual training to be done.  The more I think about it, the more I realize that it truly is a process to run a marathon.  Over four months previous to the actual run, training begins.  There are ups and downs, but all come together to be part of such a growing process and realization of what someone with a little determination can truly accomplish.

Regardless of how the run unfolds on Saturday, I am very happy with the progress I have made over the last couple years.  I have changed myself and my lifestyle and hope to continue heading in the right direction.  Saturday just turns into another milestone and marker down my path.  Where will I end up?  Maybe running a sub 17 minute 5k?  Maybe qualifying for Baltimore?  At this point, I feel I have the ability to push myself to accomplish anything I want to, even before running the marathon.  This is not to be an 'ego' situation, but more so that through the training and hard work there is a realization that the road to get somewhere is 99% of the battle.