Tossing Out “The Plan”

When I heard of Ben’s passing back in March, I was already deeply into training for Lake Sonoma. I was following a strict training plan and had all eyes on that race.  But I knew right away that I wanted to do something for Travis’s family and for other families who have been affected by suicide.

After Lake Sonoma, my legs were a little battered.  I took a little time to recover but knew I’d need to start hitting the roads and trails again to get into shape for what was next: The double marathon.  Knowing that my body wasn’t ready to “train” again, I had a hard time deciding how to prepare for the 52.4.  After talking with some wise runner friends, I decided to toss my “plan” out the window and let my body decide how much I could challenge it each day.

Well, that was easier said than done.   At first, it was great, I’d run until I was sufficiently  tired, drag myself home to ice, eat, sleep and repeat the next day.   But as we’ve gotten closer to Race Day, work has forced me to schedule every minute of every day to balance work and my training.  Running the race I work on all year has proven to be MUCH more challenging than I realized.   So I started  scheduling more specific runs and was determined to get in some high mileage before I became a slave to my laptop.

Two 100-mile weeks, a 50k, and a few skipped rest days later, I’d accomplished my goal of squeezing my training in early.  But come Monday, my calves were screaming, my feet were tired, and I was starved for sleep.   Typically when it’s time to taper, I’m exhausted and ready to ease up, but since I didn’t have a solid plan, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the “rest” element of training.   It was on my Friday long run with Aron that it occurred to me- I needed to rest more than anything else and I had to have faith in the hard work I’ve put in.

I don’t want to have any doubts that I’ll make it through all 52 miles on Race Day.  Right now, I’m consumed by preparing for the other 25,000 runners I’ll be sharing the road with, so it’s hard to visualize fitting myself into that equation.  But I couldn’t have picked a better place to celebrate life and family than with my running family.  My soccer-player-turned-runner sister, my sorority sisters training for their first half marathon, our SF Marathon Ambassadors, and the people who I’ve met over the years in running groups, at other races, and on Social Media.  Whatever your longest run or fastest interval on your training plan,  have the faith and confidence to chase down your dreams and test your limits.  I can’t wait to dish out sweaty hugs and hear race stories at the finish line!

Want to learn more about why I’m running twice?  Check out my fundraising page. 🙂