Not doing much today

I'm not doing much today. Why? I will be running my sixth marathon tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish, have a good experience, and have a good time, in that order. I might PR but I probably won't. I'm just looking forward to running with a ton of people without a target on my back, with expectations relatively low.

My training has gone well. I made an abbreviated plan and followed it since mid-August. This plan consisted of 5 days/week of running building up from 40 to 50+ miles/week. Most of the miles were done when Zonker was sleeping, or when we thought he would be sleeping. Each week I did one faster-pace run, one trail run, and one long run that's a run commute. That's the gist of it. No cross-training. For me this is a minimalist plan with low mileage. When I wrote it up, I just wanted to get to the starting line without injuries, to keep my quality time with Zonker and Noah, and to see if doing speedier runs would help me avoid calf cramps late in the race.

Marathon training added to a very busy Fall. It hasn't been easy to combine breastfeeding with marathon running. But with the help of my mom, who took care of Zonker three days a week including every Tuesday night when we did a long run home from work, and Noah, who ran all of the long runs with me, I'm here, on the eve of the race, in one piece. I'm sitting on a chair, not lifting a finger, dreading both the taper and the end of it. I can't decide what to wear, how I'll feed or pump milk before the race, how and when to take gels, etc. I'm not sure how tough I'm going to be. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to the race, but I am mostly scared of it. I want it done. And then I want to play with Zonker and not have to worry about tiring myself out doing it.