One Man's Fitness Fitness Adventures and Musings

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

A Marathon this weekend, THIS WEEKEND

I suppose some folks might be tensed up a bit over running their first marathon at the end of the week. I just don't feel any stress. I am sure there are lots of reasons for this. One of those reasons may be that I have no sense. Yet, I think the reasons are:




  1. I don't plan on trying to win the thing, I only want to finish.

  2. I have trained hard and can complete my goal.

  3. I have done lots of races so I am pretty calm about the race day stuff.

  4. I am doing this for fun

I think number 4 is the most important. I am doing this for fun. There is no need to get worked up about it. I did what I was supposed to do and I am as ready as I am going to be, so relax. It may be 26.2 miles but I get to run it one step at a time. I run one step at a time all the time, this will only be different in the duration. Even if I have to walk, I will still finish.


I am very much tapered. I will run a couple of maintenance runs this week and a two miler on Saturday just to stay loose. I will try to keep things safe during my martial arts classes this week. I usually have a tendency to train with a good deal of intensity; however, I will try to scale that back a bit this week. My only real concern is injury and illness.


I have been dealing with this left hip issue but it seems that my illness gave me more of a chance to rest and that seems fine. The illness seems to be tapering off and I should be 100% by Thursday. That should put me in a good position for Sunday. It will be an interesting weekend though.


My wife is competing in a Tae Kwon Do tournament on Saturday, she is a 2nd degree black belt. She has blazing fast kicks and regularly schools women half her age. Lately I have been taking our daughter, Emily, to see her Mom's classes. This means I have to watch as well and I have noticed how well she does. It is interesting, Tae Kwon Do is not my cup of tea, I prefer my martial arts a bit more up close. I had hoped with both her Mom and Dad being black belts that Emily might develop an interest, well not yet. She seems more interested now than she did a year ago. That said I don't want to push her to do something she has no interest in; for now it is ballet and gymnastics. Anyway, the tournament should be a fun time for her and I am happy she is going. What does all this have to do with my marathon? Well, I have to carefully find a time to drive the hour to pick up my race packet and scope out the course. I have to fit this in along with my video camera and cheer leader duties. I believe it should all be done by 2:00 p.m. so that should give me enough time.


10 comments:

David H. said...

You're definitely in the right mind frame for this weekend. I, too, was never really nervous -- there's really no need to be if you've prepared yourself correctly. Enjoy your last few days of rest and be prepared for some strange emotional times during the race!

Andrew is getting fit said...

I hope you have a great race. I'm really looking forward to the race report.

Chief Wahoo said...

Sounds like you are ready to tackle 26.2!

Glad to hear you are feeling better.

GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY!

Robert Barker said...

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I am feeling better and hope to have a fun race. I'll take all the luck I can get.

Road Warrior said...

The best advice I got was that all of your training was the work. The marathon is the celebration for all of the hard work. That helped me to enjoy the race. Good luck and keep us posted!

Pokey said...

Great mind set, Rob....you are totally prepared and it shows! You are going to have a great race!!!!!!

Jason said...

Sounds like things are clicking for you. Have fun this weekend!!!

Jeff said...

Rob -- You're in the right state of mind. I'm sure you'll do well. Hope the weather holds up for you.

Jeff

Nancy said...

GOOD LUCK TO YOU BOTH!!

PS You are setting a great example for her even if she isn't that interested yet.

Susan said...

Good luck, Rob!

AOR team meber Susan