T Minus 7 Days and Counting

I had a good run this morning of 6 miles out to Ft. McHenry and back. Nothing too exciting to report. Since the markets are closed on Good Friday, I didn't have to go to work today, so I was able to sleep in a little and didn't get out the door until 10:30, which was nice. I wanted to get a little more distance in today since I'm probably not going to run tomorrow (crappy weather is expected) and will be doing a 12 miler on Sunday morning.

With just over a week remaining until the National Half Marathon, I'm starting to get anxious. I don't think I'm in any danger of not completing the race, but I also don't want to struggle to complete the 13.1 miles. Last week's long run was solid and I think I won't have too much trouble adding another mile this week. With the adrenaline of the half marathon, I think I'll be more than capable of going the distance. I think most of my anxiousness stems from the approaching test of my preparation and my overriding goal over the past few months. I've been thinking about this race since setting it as a goal back in November. And while my preparation has not been iron-willed the entire time, I think I've been good enough that completing the race won't be a problem. Certainly it's not as if I still doing long runs of 7-8 miles. By the same token, I was hoping to have gotten a few more 12-milers in before the race, but luckily with the half marathon there seems to be a little more flexibility in training distances since there's not as far to go in the final race.

At any rate, now that I'm down to a week, the nerves are starting. I'm sure I'll be REALLY nervous on race day but it'll be (hopefully) a constructive nervousness that fuels me in the race.

So, tomorrow I don't have any plans to run, but I feel fine today after 6 miles so I may get 5-6 more in tomorrow and then do the planned 12-miler on Sunday morning. That should more than cover the calories I'll consume at Benihana's on Sunday afternoon! Without running tomorrow, my weekly mileage will be 22.6 miles so I may run tomorrow if the weather cooperates to push it closer to 30 miles total. We'll see. March weather around here is unpredictable so maybe the weather won't be as bad as they're forecasting...or it could be worse who knows?!