So, in just a little over two days I will be embarking upon my second full marathon, and you know what, I’m totally okay with it. I’m not freaking out, my mind is not acting like it’s been given a two-day dose of speed, and my nervous belly isn’t doing any flips, not yet at least. I’m totally calm, despite the horrific memories of my first marathon, despite hardly running beyond my Sunday runs the last two weeks, despite having no clue how my belly will react to the fuel this time around and whether or not I’ll be having to dash into the not-yet-grown cornfields along the route. Wow, how the mind does change hey.
Anyone remember this picture?
You may recall some of my posts leading up to my first marathon almost eight months ago. I was a friggin’ wreck, waking up one day with the sweats and gut aches, having anxiety attacks, threatening to quarantine myself in a hazmat suit. I was a mess. But so far, this time around, I haven’t experienced any of that, none of it. So then I was thinking, why? I mean I am totally the kind of person who blows things way out of proportion, and a second marathon where I most definitely want to do better than the first, I should theoretically be freaking out. But I’m not, I’m more freaked out about the 10 km run I’m doing with my brother two weeks later (more on that later). So what’s the deal, what’s different? Well folks, I think I may have discovered a second reason to embrace this race:
Because it’s in my hometown, and because it’s along the roads that I regularly train on when I’m with my favourite running chicks, it doesn’t feel like a race, not yet at least. I think, in my head, I’ve got it pegged as just another Sunday run, a much faster Sunday run mind you, but a Sunday run nonetheless. And you know what, I am perfectly okay with that 😀
And for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of the, uhm, more interesting posts leading up to my last marathon. Enjoy.
Oct. 4, 2010: Getting my freak on
Oct. 5, 2010: With a little help from my friends