The long runs are over

Well, save for that really long one.

This morning we ran our final long run before the Chicago Marathon on next Sunday. We ran in conditions reminiscent of Glass City earlier this year: rain, grey sky, and warm. In fact, that half marathon was the last time I can recall running in the rain at all. I'm hoping it was a good test run for next Sunday. After all, as of right now it's looking like conditions will be similar.

Up until recently I had been banking on so-called "normal" fall weather. You know, 40 degrees, possibly  cloudy, dry. Alas, Mother Nature ain't havin' it. Then again, I hold that 30% of the time meteorologists are right all the time.

The other 30,000+ runners will be running under the same conditions, so there is no use in worrying too much about it. This week I'm going to focus on the following:

1.) Drink lots of water

I'm already kinda flopping on numero uno. Aside from a small glass of water with a pack of Emergen-C and the 1/4 cup of water that was in my smoothie this morning, I'm working on my second can of Coke Zero today. I am going to make an effort to drink at least two bottles of water per day at school this week and absolutely no more soda.

2.) Sleep more than usual

I did a lot better sleeping the nights prior to Columbus and Cleveland respectively than I did the night before Glass City last year. Nevertheless, I need to make sure that my body is well-rested, especially in the case that I have the jitters throughout Saturday night. It should help that I only need to worry about getting up early to run on two weekdays (Tuesday and Wednesday) as opposed to three or four. Joe and I are going to have to know when it's time to turn off Breaking Bad each night. We just started watching it about a month or so ago and are now heading toward the end of season three.

3.) No fast food

For the past three weeks there was way too much fast food in my life. The Germans were here, and so it was often the most convenient way to feed ourselves by going to a drive-thru or Chipotle. Last week Joe was in San Diego for a few days and fast food made me feel less sad about his absence. This week, no fast food. Just good, home-cooked stuff and PB&J sangweeches.

4.) Don't run too much or too little

There are only three very short runs this week. No amount of mileage over that is going to imrove my performance on Sunday. At this point, I've either got it or I don't. I am really looking forward to the two miles on Saturday. Joe has a hard time getting me to settle on an easy, comfortable pace on most of our runs. There is something about the shake-out run the day before a long-distance race that I love. It feels so good and is always fun, probably because I'm excited (ahem, nervous) for the race.

It's almost time.