CONFIDENCE

I'm three days away from towing the line at the Philadelphia Marathon.

And I am CRAZY nervous. I've been fighting negative thoughts and self-doubt for nearly a week now. Getting a nasty stomach bug a week before the race has not helped.

Before the sun was up this morning, I was trying to imagine what it was going to feel like on Sunday morning... and I got super nervous again and started thinking I might not be ready for this race. I cannot remember what I felt like last year before NYC. But I'm sure I wasn't this nervous. I quickly spiraled into a lot of negative talk about my training, my preparation, my strength to run another marathon.

Then I jumped into a cold shower - literally.

Standing under the cold water (which was slowly heating up) I washed away all the negative thoughts.

I am SO ready to run this race.

Since training began on July 12, I have:

-- run 512.71 miles

-- run 3 x 20+ mile runs

-- run more than 10 runs of a least 10 miles

-- hit repeats consistently and even managed to descend sets

-- nursed a very sore heal, successfully, and have NO PAIN

-- maintained my weight and feel light on my feet

-- conquered the hill on 13th Street so many times (and to think in early spring I could barely reach the top without stopping to walk)

-- run to National Airport and back home again with D

I am ready for this race. Yes, I've skipped a couple of runs here and there. And this week, I've opted for sleep over running. But I've listened to my body. I've trained hard and smart.

And I'm freaking ready.

I've held a pace of under 10 min/mile on EVERY long run I've run. I've held a sub-9 min/mile pace on several 10 mile and 1/2 marathon runs.

I'm going to rock this marathon.

And I'm going to look good doing it.

photo credit