One Week to Go: Trying to Chill the (bleep) Out

The final week of marathon training is probably the hardest. I can handle burn inducing track workouts and long runs on dead legs, but sitting around, NOT running and trying to handle the excitement and nerves is really tough. I have been such a ball of adrenaline that on Friday I went to a yoga class that consisted of 4 total postures over the course of an hour and 15 minutes: Sitting cross legged, reclining on a tower of bolsters and blankets, supported child's pose and Shavasana. I needed to calm my mind and relax and it certainly helped. It was kind of hilarious though to get together in an organized class to basically take a nap. Also adding to the anxiety is the fact that my body has been kind of freaking out over the past 2 weeks: I developed achiles tendonitis, what seems to be a ball of extreme tightness has made its way down my entire left leg and is now comfortably established itself in my calf,  and all of a sudden i seem to have piriformis syndrome in my right butt (and its supposed to be the good one!). I have been doing a lot of rolling with pretty much anything that can get deep into the muscles and its certainly helping, but it is definitely not comforting to have all these little things happening when body is supposed to be recovering and storing up energy. Diet wise I have felt pretty good. I struggled to get enough carbs at first, but have got it down now I think and don't feel bloated. I did have one night where my dinner consisted of a third of a bottle of rose and an ice cream sandwich, but I figure all those carbs got stored up and will be really useful around mile 20.

This week is all about getting the little issues sorted out, relaxing and focusing my energy. I have a massage today and will go to a yoga class on Thursday night when I get to Boston. I did this last year and it was such a good way to normalize after spending 6 hours on a plane. I am also trying to focus on my race strategy. This might sound like something an elite marathoner would say, however my plan here is just to try to figure out how to not go out too fast to be able to save something for the hills and the last 6 miles. That part of last year was absolutely miserable and I want to avoid feeling that terrible again.

Last week I was kind of obsessed with reading every digital media post about the marathon and that definitely fueled my internal fire. This week, however, I am going to try to avoid the hype as much as possible because it can be super draining and distracting. I still checked the weather this morning and read Kara Goucher's Guide to the Boston Marathon, but I am limiting what I read and will be sure to do that same when I get to Boston. I totally support reading stuff that makes light of the whole thing to for some perspective. My fav is from the Oatmeal.

Stay loose and healthy this week runners and try to relax! Safe travels!