The Marathon Mojo

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I have 2 days until my marathon, and I’m having a blast.  There is nothing like the anticipation of race day that gets me going.  It’s like Christmas wrapped in big bow of pain, sweat, cursing, and grit (And if you have kids, that is exactly what Christmas is).  That’s race mojo.  That mix of anticipation, nervousness, and elation all rolled into a goal time that looms over you like a giant tree waiting to fall.  Then there’s all the crazy things that you’ll put yourself through to eke out those extra seconds which could mean ultimate victory or agonizing defeat.  The amount of crazy you will subject yourself to is of course proportional to the length of the race.  For a 5k, some hard training will do, and maybe even with a weight vest.  With a 10k, weekly interval sessions and cross-training.  With a half, carbo-loading, numerous hill sessions, and careful diet management.  With a marathon, all of the above but at 30-50 miles per week.  Don’t let anyone tell you different.  All the training we subject ourselves to for our sport is clearly insane.  And then there’s the extra crazy, like the following:

I’ve got my Flash ring.  I got this little baby from Rick’s Comic City when I bought the first issue of the The Flash.  If this isn’t a sign I don’t know what is.  So I’ve worn it everywhere to tap into whatever speed power I can steal from it.  My friend TK saw it, and she demanded that I get her one for her (she’s running the half).  I told Rick that he should open a booth at the expo, because he would sell a million of them.

I’ve got my Marathon theme.  Theme, you ask?  Why yes…I do have a theme.  Originally, I was going to go with something fairly obvious in honor of the Country Music Marathon, like “Redneck Running,” but I have since changed my mind.  Instead, I’m going with “Run Like an Outlaw.”  I can’t take the credit for the idea, because I heard it in the song Wild, Wild West by Randy Houser.  I’m sure Psyche will try to take credit for my theme, but don’t listen to her.  I’ve even got my playlist loaded with every drinking, redneck, horse riding song that I could find.  Yeehaw!

See what I mean.  I’m generally otherwise rational person.  However when faced with a marathon, I will wear a plastic ring with lightening bolt and search every country song for the right tempo and attitude.  But hey, it’s fun too.  This could be my last marathon ever, so I figure, I may as well take it to Nth degree and enjoy the hell out of it.  This my friends is marathon mojo.

Tomorrow I’m spending most of the day at the expo.  Ryan Hall and Eddie George are supposed to be there, so I’m hoping to score a couple of autographs on top of my expo swag.  Like I said, I’m having a blast.  If you’re in town for the race, come by the expo, I’ll be the Filipino idiot singing country songs and stuffing gels into my mouth.  Awesome.  No hard numbers today.  It is taper week after all, but going into the race, I currently have 18 miles for the week.  I may try to grab a couple miles tomorrow, just to shake the nerves out, but we’ll see.