1 week to the Philadelphia Marathon

I generally don’t think of a week as being a very long period of time. It’s 7 days, how much could really change in 7 days? I started this week with the harsh realization that I was less than two weeks out from the marathon I’ve spent months training for, and I didn’t feel like I was going to be ready to run this race. Two weeks didn’t seem like nearly enough time.  

Monday – Rest Day

I’m not going to sugar coat it, Monday was a rough day for me. I didn’t sleep well Sunday night and spent most of Monday just trying to stay awake. I was especially frustrated by the lack of sleep because I knew my body needed it to recover from Sunday’s hard effort. I went to physical therapy Monday afternoon and opted for “manual work” over my usual strength exercises. In other words, the PT used pinpointed pressure on various areas of my body to release tightness and pain. I ended the session feeling better than when I came in, which is always good. I took it easy Monday night, hoping for better sleep and recovery come Tuesday. 

Tuesday – 4 miles, easy

I slept better Monday night, but still not great. Nevertheless, I got my run in and I felt better for it. It was a relaxed effort and I took in the scenery as I jogged around town. My favorite part of the time change is that my runs now coincide almost perfectly with sunrise, and Tuesday morning the sky was filled with beautiful shades of pink and purple. I felt emotionally restored after my run. It wasn’t perfect, some of the anxiety that’s been hindering my sleep still lingered, but I felt stronger and more capable than I had before I stepped out the door. I love how running can do that, it can completely change your perspective or mood in just a few miles. 

Wednesday – 4 miles, easy

On Wednesday I finally started feeling good again. I got out early and logged my easy miles. I opted for a loop around town to get in some hills. I love that where I live I have the ability to run fast miles on the flat trail along the river, or I can get in some elevation change by running the hilly roads in town. Post-run, Wednesday was a fairly uneventful day. I was able to enjoy a restful evening after work and got to bed early. 

Thursday – 800m repeats

My alarm went off at 5:30 Thursday morning and I sprung out of bed ready to go. I’m not sure if it was my anxiety levels being elevated or the daylight savings time change impacting my internal clock, but I was up early every day this week. It worked out well since I had to get up and get my workout in before going to the office on Thursday. I logged a two mile warmup and then dove into the repeats. It was 6x 800m with 400m recovery jog in between. My splits were 3:18, 3:14, 3:15, 3:15, 3:14. I was consistent and right in my goal pace range. It was a confidence building workout for me, a reminder that I still have some speed on my legs after all of the slow easy miles I’ve been logging. I rounded out the workout with a 1.5 mile cool down. It was both exciting and nerve-racking to realize this would be my last real workout before the marathon. 

Friday – Rest Day

I took it pretty easy on Friday. I’m continuing to prioritize rest to the best of my ability and I stay in bed for a while Friday morning. I went to physical therapy and we continued to focus on keeping my body feeling good, meaning we worked on stretching and soft-tissue work over strengthening. I felt surprisingly good Friday morning. Maybe it was just that I had felt so awful at physical therapy on Monday, that, in comparison, I felt amazing, but my foot actually felt pretty good. Maybe something is shifting?

Saturday – Rest Day

I had a run on the calendar for Saturday, but I opted to skip it for something I deemed more important – a day trip to NYC to see a group of friends from college. There’s a group of seven of us I’ve been lucky enough to stay in touch with and three of them now live in NYC, so we decided to make that the destination for a reunion trip. I took the train up from Philly Saturday morning. It’s an easy trip on Amtrak and I was proud of myself for braving the Subway by myself to meet my friends for brunch on the Upper East Side. We caught up over omelettes and waffles at a little Belgian restaurant then sauntered through Central Park to spend the afternoon at the MoMA. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day in NYC and I was so grateful to have the time with this amazing group of friends that I don’t get to see nearly as often as I would like. We got tacos and margaritas for dinner, though I opted for a Mexican cola in lieu a cocktail, before I had to catch my train home. The rest of the girls were staying the night, but I made it a day trip. It seemed like too much to try to do a big night out a week before the race, plus my mom and a friend were in Philly for the weekend and I wanted to make sure I got to see them on Sunday. I made it home by 10pm. It was a long day with lots of walking and time on my feet, but my heart was so full that any extra stress on my body felt worth it. 

Sunday – 6 miles, easy

This week’s “long run” was six miles, nothing compared to what I’d been logging over past few months. I let myself sleep in Sunday, the first morning I hadn’t set an alarm in over a week. It felt nice. I met my mom and Tina, a close family friend, for brunch before getting in my run. I was grateful for more time with loved ones this weekend so I savored my time with them before lacing up my shoes. I didn’t feel amazing on the run. My heart rate was low to start but seemed to spike up out of nowhere mid-way through. I questioned my fitness for a minute, then decided it wasn’t worth stressing over and just tried to enjoy the rest of the run. After, my sister came over for a movie night. We ordered a pizza and watched the Devil Wear’s Prada. It was a simple and lovely way to close out a really great weekend. 

Physically, this week wasn’t all transformative, but mentally and emotionally I feel worlds better than when I started the week. Spending time with people I love is a good way to center myself. It’s a reminder that, while I’m focused on my goals and I want to achieve them, I have people around me who will love, support, and encourage me no matter what. That kind of unconditional support is a special feeling and I’m going to hold it close to my heart going into race week. Maybe I will be ready for this marathon. 

I wish I’d taken more pictures to commemorate my day in the city, but I was so busy enjoying time with friends that this was all I captured. I suppose being present and making memories is more important anyway.