Let the Taper Madness Begin!

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

Indeed, 3 weeks from today my feet will cross the starting line of my first marathon. I can hardly believe it.

To date I have had two 18 mile runs, a 20 miler and my final long run of 21.22 miles yesterday. Yes, my training plan stopped at 20 miles. But my brain just had to know I could go further. Crazy how mental running is.

I ran the 20 miler two weeks ago with friends from my running group. Four hours of talking, laughing, encouraging, sharing and holding back tears on the killer 12% incline we hit during mile 19 helped pass the time. And once we got to the top of that hill, we all three cheered for Jesus, the One Who deserves all credit and glory.

Yesterday, though, I had to do my 21.22 mile run alone. It took me exactly 4 hours, and I felt pretty good when I was done. Today I feel great, even managed a 5 mile recovery run just to loosen up a little. Truthfully, I don't know which is harder. Running that distance, or staying with it for 4 hours. A little of both, but it was good mental preparation for the marathon I am about to run by myself (well, me and 50,000 other runners!).

Today is Mother's Day, my beloved family gave me what I asked for....new shoes and a sun visor. My Brooks Adrenalines have not failed me, and I replaced the outgoing pair with the exact same model.  This is my third pair of Adrenalines. I was happy to get over 500 miles out the outgoing pair, especially considering how many of those miles were on concrete and rough terrain.

So bring on taper. Crazy woman that I am, I'm already concocting my plan to run another marathon on September 22 here in Denver...16 weeks from my June 3rd marathon. Which means I have to do the standard 4 week recovery running, then slide back into a marathon plan at the midway point. CRAZINESS! I am so hooked.

In the spirit of my tired and achy feet, which were very glad to see the old shoes retire:

Now to stay steadfast and not start doubting myself. I have trained hard, and trained smart. My training WILL see me through. Most of all, Jesus will be with me, so I can't go wrong.