OKC Marathon in 5 days

It doesn't seem possible that it's less than a week from race day. Physically I feel ready, although a little tired. Mentally I'm more nervous than usual. At least I think I'm more nervous than usual - maybe it's just normal nerves, but they just seem worse in the present tense. Regardless I have been talking myself out of doubts constantly.

There are other factors contributing to my nervousness - like upcoming races. I have an 8-14 hour Adventure Race on the calendar for 2 weeks post marathon, but I have done this before so I don't think that's much of the issue. The major issue here is that I made a decision to sign up for the Chicago marathon in October. This is something that I have not done before - sign up for multiple marathons at one time. It's a little scary - what's that quote by Frank Shorter...'You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.' I think in this case I don't want to think about the next marathon during a marathon and since I'm already signed up it's hard not too.

Then, there has been the work stress - traveling 3 out of 4 weeks is too much - too many dreaded treadmill miles have made running not nearly as fun. Although I had a pretty decent road run Sunday until it got cold and started pouring - really only for the last 2 of a 12 mile run so not too bad.

And, can't forget the car stress, but HOPEFULLY that's all taken care of!! Dang Mazda - but that's probably another blog! ;-)

Finally, and possibly most importantly my running partner has been on injured reserve! :( Currently it looks as though she will be running the half, which is great, but that's still a lot of lonely miles to cover. Don't get me wrong - I want her to heal and not push herself, but this was a race we planned to run together - to break 4 hours together. I really wanted her there. For as many miles as we've logged, this was only going to be our second marathon run together. The first was Wichita and it was great! See our happy faces at the finish:

Anyway, it's not that I can't run a marathon by myself (if you consider running alongside 18,000 other runners - 2,400 running the full - running by yourself - lol). I've done it 4 other times - it's just much better to run with a friend! So, I'm mentally prepping for making new friends, doing some reflecting, listening to music, etc...and thinking of the next race that I will get to run with my running partner and friend! :-)

New, New Shoes

It feels like I've changed shoes so often lately...

A few months ago I went and had my gait analyzed at a local running store and switched up brands of shoes. Tried the Saucony Omni's for a couple months and since then I have had serious blisters - I thought they would eventually quit rubbing, but it didn't really happen.

So, by a stoke of luck (haha) I was planning to do a trail run in KC in the middle of a 2 week work trip and had asked the man to bring my clothes and shoes when he came to meet me. As luck would have it he forgot. No worries, I'm a runner I can always use new shoes! ;-)


So, off to the closest sporting goods store we went - they had a limited selection of trail shoes - decided on some Asic Gel Enduro's - low end, but they seemed to be functional enough for what I was wanting (and they did get me through a 2 hour trail run in the snow - see previous blog). While we were there the man talked me into trying on a pair of his favorite running shoes - Mizuno's. I tried on two different kinds, but after some humorous running around the make shift 'track' at the store with my jeans rolled up and the man taking video of my form - I decided I really liked the Wave Inspire.

I'll have to give further updates after more wear, but after using them for a 45 mile week (including a 22 mile run) they are great - no break-in time required as far as I can tell. Three weeks till OKC, we'll see how they hold up there!! :-)