21 Days Until the Race!

You guys, the race is THREE weeks out!!!  On my long run yesterday with the group I logged 17.5 miles. I felt pretty good for the most part considering blisters are healing and a toenail is barely hanging on. I used the run as a dress rehearsal. I wore what I plan to wear on race day, minus the arm warmers (Um, hello, it's not cold enough to practice with those on a long run). I practiced fueling with the energy gel and Gatorade I plan on using on race day. I did experience some stomach cramps that started around mile 12. I'm not sure if it was the energy gel I ate, the Gatorade I drank, or a combination of things. Afterwards I think it was just because I had to poop because after I relieved my bowels, the cramping went away. At this point, I'm not sure if I should consider trying a different fueling method or just go with it. I made it back to where we started at mile 17.5 for a hydration stop. While I intended to go back out for two to four more miles once I started back up again I felt dizzy and nauseous, so I decided to stop.  It was so bad that I almost went to my grandma's house a block away to have someone pick me up because I wasn't sure if I could drive home. In the end, I chose to give myself a few minutes to hydrate and rest before driving home. When I got home, I ungracefully made my way to bed by holding on to the walls and door frames to balance myself. I slept three hours and woke up feeling better even though I had a killer headache.

I'm not sure if I was dehydrated, experienced some sort of heat stress, or what exactly happened. Even though I'm a little bummed I only ran 17.5 miles, I'm also really excited to have come this far in my marathon training. I went out for 4 miles this morning because I thought running on tired legs is exactly what I need to help me on the back half of 26.2 miles on race day. In two days, I ran 21.5 miles, which is damn close to 26.2 miles. Now, I am officially in taper mode, which means I'm supposed to be taking it easy just to maintain my training. I will still be training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but my last two weekend runs before the race aren't likely to be more than ten miles each.

My running group is absolutely amazing! There are five of us ladies that run together Tuesday and Thursday mornings as well as Saturday mornings. We are like our own little group inside of our much bigger group. We even have a WhatsApp group called Running Divas! These ladies push me to be my best and keep me accountable when necessary. They make the miles fly by and I love running with them. One lady, Wellsy (that's her nickname), and I are going to be dressing up as the Ugly Stepsisters from Cinderella for the Walt Disney World Marathon.  Wellsy, is constantly making us laugh on our runs and always chit chatting mile after mile. The Disney Marathon is going to be so much fun with her!

I finally know my race number and starting time for the TCS NYC Marathon. I will be starting in the last wave at 11AM. Since I'm in the Green corral, I will be running on the bottom level of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. It's not exactly where I wanted to be, but how can I complain? I'm just excited to have the opportunity to run this race!  To track me on race day:

• Download the TCS NYC Marathon app.
• Select "TRACK UP TO 20 RUNNERS"
• Search "69071"
• Click "+" to add me to your list of runners, and then you'll be able to see my splits on race day every 5K, half, and finish.
• I've been told that if you click on the course map it will show my initials with an estimated position of where I am on the course. It uses my previous mile times to predict future mile times and estimated position on the course.

Text me cheers on race day! I have an app that will read me your messages! Although I'll hear your messages, I won't likely be responding until after I finish the race. Don't let my silence stop you from cheering me on. Text me jokes, text me quotes, text me nonsense, text me what you're doing while I run a marathon, and text me compliments.