I love the week before a race. You are filled with possibility and hope. You get to reflect on all the hard work you’ve put in and rejoice in the fact that you’ve made it to this point. You experience opposing feelings: anticipation and nervousness, excitement and anxiety. There is obsessing about weather. Kind words from good friends and training partners. And no matter what happens – if it is a good day or not quite the race you had planned – you typically learn that you’re stronger than you thought you ever were.

This weekend, I will be running my sixth marathon at the Albany Marathon in Albany, Georgia. I’ve been extremely (and quite unusually) fortunate and blessed to have run a personal best at my last 4 races, including a half ironman, 5K, 10K and half marathon. Consequently, I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from people who are expecting another big performance. But the truth is, this race is different. This race is about enjoying being a runner. I will be starting marathon #6 as a different runner than the girl who ran those first 5 marathons. I’ve learned how to believe in myself. I’ve learned how to push myself when things feel hard. I’ve learned what works for me and what doesn’t. I’ve learned that the results of your race don’t define how much effort you put into the journey. And I’ve learned that I own the race, it doesn’t own me.

Here are my goals for this weekend’s Albany Marathon. They are not the usual goals focused on race times and paces, but rather they are about feelings I want to experience along the way:

• Enjoy the miles. I want to have a great experience running and feel good doing. I want to smile. I want to take in how lucky I am to be doing this. I want to have fun.
• Be consistent. The hardest part on Saturday for me will be to not start too fast. I’d love to run a consistent race with mostly even pacing, which has always been challenging for me at the 26.2 distance. I would love it if my last 6 grueling miles were NOT my slowest miles. I am going to visualize how I will handle this and start positively preparing for that challenge.
• Surprise myself. Ok, even though I don’t have a specific time goal, I have of course run the numbers in my head regarding what I think I’m capable of doing. I’m pretty certain I can run a personal best based on my recent training and 5K, 10K and half marathon times during the past 6 months, but I will truly be content with simply finishing. I am slightly under-trained, having only run one cycle of 16, 18 and 21-mile runs after my half marathon concluded in January. So we will see if the lower mileage equates to fresh legs or struggling legs.

Last week’s training presented some unexpected surprises. On Tuesday during my speed work session, I tweaked my left calf. I felt a little soreness toward the end of my 1,000-meter repeats. I had a sports massage after the run which included some pretty aggressive work on it. That left it feeling sore and slightly painful. So I took 3 days off. I traded my tempo run for an easy spin on the bike and iced like a maniac. By Friday, it was feeling great and on Saturday, I was able to run 7.5 pain-free miles on soft terrain. Sunday I did a 5-mile easy hike. I ran a short tempo run today and all is well. I will have another sports massage on Tuesday and do an easy spin on the bike. On Wednesday I’ll run a short marathon pace run and an easy shake-out run on Thursday. As usual, I will do no activity the day before the race (I do the best on rested legs).

Next stop, 26.2. Have a great week of training and racing, everyone!

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Want to read about more marathon fun? Check out these posts:
Why Running a Marathon is Like Dating an Unstable Boyfriend
Marine Corps Marathon Race Recap
Dear First-Time Marathon Runner
The Journey to 26.2: A Runner’s First Marathon Experience

Have you ever had an injury scare right before a big race? Do you think running a marathon is actually fun?