Friday, October 17, 2014

Home Stretch

Well, it's the home stretch before my marathon this weekend in Grand Rapids.  I may be stressed, I may be nervous, I may be excited...regardless, I KNOW I will have a good time.  Here's why...

1. I've trained. I did my physical training and I've done my mental training. I know you've heard me talk all year about working on my positivity, pushing out negative thoughts, working on running happy, and finding my "Melanie Pace" (a.k.a. The pace that makes me run happy). 

2. I've only ever heard great things about this marathon. I'm very excited to experience it myself. I hear it's well organized and the race director shakes every one's hand that finishes the race! Very nice! Can't do that in Chicago, that's for sure!

3. The colors should be beautiful. It's fall and the leaves are all changing. A good portion of this race is on a trail and I'm excited to see all the beautiful colors! I might have to take my phone out around part of that time in case I want to snap a photo or two!



4. The weather is supposed to be marathon perfect!


Actually, a little too perfect and I'm not sure if I should be wearing tank or tshirt, or capris or shorts. I'm bringing everything and will figure it out while there!  Arm sleeves are a definite and cheapy gloves.

5. My friend Julie will be there and probably running at least a few miles with me. Um... Julie is one of my best running partners!! How can I not have some fun?


Julie and I at the finish of our first ultra last fall!
6. Pickle Juice. Yes you heard me correctly. This race has pickle juice as part of their hydration/fueling on course. I've recently searched blog reviews of this marathon and everyone said they had never had pickle juice during a run but tried it during this marathon...and loved it! Now, I love pickles. One of my favorite foods. And as a child, I secretly drank pickle juice. Don't judge. I've been known to do it as an adult occasionally. DON'T JUDGE. So I'm super excited to try this at the race. I've never had it during a run before and I know you aren't supposed to try anything new on race day. But I've heard that it doesn't apply to pickle juice at the Grand Rapids Marathon, right? lol.

Pickle juice actually has sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc. All the good stuff to help prevent cramping! I'm game!

7. Have fun. Yes my goal is to PR. Yes, I'm going to try to do it. But I want to have fun. I want to enjoy my marathon. If for some reason a PR doesn't happen, that's ok too. I want to look at the race as a whole and think... I enjoyed myself. I did my best. I'm happy with my results. I have an awesome experience! Because after all, that's what running is all about!  But yes, I'm going after my PR. That doesn't mean I need to be fast. It just means I need to be consistent!  Keep going when the going gets hard!

I think that's all I've got for you all today! Hope you all have a great weekend. And to my friends running marathons this weekend (Indianapolis and Grand Rapids...you know who you are), have a fantastic time!

Big shout out to my girl Becky doing her first marathon in Indy!! Love ya! Have fun and kick butt!
 
Becky and I after our holy hot half marathon in Vegas this year

5 comments:

  1. Good luck and have fun this weekend! I've never heard of pickle juice for marathons, but maybe I need some for my next one to prevent the cramps! I like your attitude towards your PR attempt. Also, your thoughts about just being consistent rang true with me. I'll get my marathon PR when I can just run consistent effort miles (and not cramp up)! Have an awesome time and enjoy the fall colors!

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  2. You are going to ROCK IT! I am so excited for you. I know you've worked so hard for this! And pickle juice sounds awesome! I'd love to try it!

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  3. Good luck this weekend! You've got awesome weather and you'll be amazing!!! Enjoy every moment!

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