I am sure that most veteran marathoners always find the last 5-6 days leading to race morning the least easy to manage although it's the least strenuous physically. After 14-16 weeks of 40-60 miles a week, we suddenly have extra time on our hands that was otherwise filled with weekly interval, tempo, long and recovery runs. Instead of days where it's common to burn 1000 or more calories working out, we need to suddenly worry about gaining a few pounds in advance of the race which is also unsettling (and frankly irritating given how hard it is to drop down and into optimal racing weight) as our caloric needs lessen (although my desire to eat seems to rise as a way to heal up and rest my body -- which I generally pay close attention to as it's a natural part of the tapering process).
As a part of the ritual which has been my final week of marathon preparation for a few years, I always pay special attention to visiting my sports-chiro, masseuse and spending extra time staying loose, limber and mobile. In fact, during my morning session with my sports-chiro, he remarked that 10 other Boston Marathoner's were coming in today for their final tune-ups before departing for Boston later in the week (this alone is remarkable to me given there's that many of us flying out of Seattle to Boston all seeing the same sports-chiro).
A number of people have asked me recently what the hardest part of preparing to run a marathon is (nearly everyone assumes it's the 20+ mile long runs) -- and they are surprised when I respond saying that -- while 20+ mile long runs are indeed grueling -- it's the final 24 hours leading to actually running the race I find the most completely unpleasant. I'm not sure if others feel this way, but for me the Saturday (or Sunday in the case of Boston) evening and super early 3:00 am wake-ups (often followed by an adventure even getting to the starting line of a major race and then having to manage some sort of bathroom routine with 25,000 other nervous racers) is by far the least enjoyable part of marathoning. In fact, if it were feasible to just go run the race in the early evening and avoid the 3:00 am pre-marathon wake-up routine and get it over with -- it would be so much more enjoyable (setting aside issues of heat and humidity running later in the day or early evening). Outside of the Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Marathon held in November, I'm not sure of any other evening marathon races so it's just the reality of the situation for me that the least fun part of running the marathon comes right immediately before the absolutely most exhilarating part which is running and completing the race.
I expect I'll spend the next couple of days before flying to Boston Friday morning working on my final racing gear checklist, race strategy and about every other contingency I can think of before showing up out in Hopkinton at about 8:00 am Monday morning -- including what to do for 2 1/2 hours while waiting in the Athlete's Village prior to starting the race at 10:25 AM EDT.
More to follow on what's been a remarkable journey getting back to Boston in 2016.
As a part of the ritual which has been my final week of marathon preparation for a few years, I always pay special attention to visiting my sports-chiro, masseuse and spending extra time staying loose, limber and mobile. In fact, during my morning session with my sports-chiro, he remarked that 10 other Boston Marathoner's were coming in today for their final tune-ups before departing for Boston later in the week (this alone is remarkable to me given there's that many of us flying out of Seattle to Boston all seeing the same sports-chiro).
A number of people have asked me recently what the hardest part of preparing to run a marathon is (nearly everyone assumes it's the 20+ mile long runs) -- and they are surprised when I respond saying that -- while 20+ mile long runs are indeed grueling -- it's the final 24 hours leading to actually running the race I find the most completely unpleasant. I'm not sure if others feel this way, but for me the Saturday (or Sunday in the case of Boston) evening and super early 3:00 am wake-ups (often followed by an adventure even getting to the starting line of a major race and then having to manage some sort of bathroom routine with 25,000 other nervous racers) is by far the least enjoyable part of marathoning. In fact, if it were feasible to just go run the race in the early evening and avoid the 3:00 am pre-marathon wake-up routine and get it over with -- it would be so much more enjoyable (setting aside issues of heat and humidity running later in the day or early evening). Outside of the Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Marathon held in November, I'm not sure of any other evening marathon races so it's just the reality of the situation for me that the least fun part of running the marathon comes right immediately before the absolutely most exhilarating part which is running and completing the race.
I expect I'll spend the next couple of days before flying to Boston Friday morning working on my final racing gear checklist, race strategy and about every other contingency I can think of before showing up out in Hopkinton at about 8:00 am Monday morning -- including what to do for 2 1/2 hours while waiting in the Athlete's Village prior to starting the race at 10:25 AM EDT.
More to follow on what's been a remarkable journey getting back to Boston in 2016.
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