Tapering cont...

It just occurred to me after reading runliarun’s blog, that I also don’t have a re-fuel plan. I just sort of assumed they’d have some GU or something like that at the water stations. Stupid me… the website doesn’t say anything about any type of fuel other than some gleukos? ARGH! I know I am not supposed to change anything during the race… but I have never tried gleukos and not even sure what it is. Will it be enough to keep me going? Usually on a long run I will stop and eat part of an orange or a banana or a powerbar. I’m not sure if I need to buy a little pouch to carry something or what.

Sunday was my last long run (medium really) of 10 miles. I ran it at the marathon pace I am considering… 8:30. My splits were:
8:28
8:35
8:31
8:16
8:35
8:30
8:32
8:29
8:34
8:29

My legs didn’t feel as good as I hoped. I am considering running 8:35 or 8:40 instead, but I think I will wait and see how my legs feel. This is my first experience at tapering, so I am not really sure what to expect. I do think that last Sunday I would have struggled over 26 miles. I just wasn’t in a grove. Not a huge confidence builder to say the least. And honestly, though I know I am supposed to be in a 100% confidence grove, I still have some doubts. I don’t really know what those last six miles will do to me. I worry that I am losing my edge because of tapering. I wish I would have trained more on speed so I could run faster.

But then… just as quickly as the doubts came… I pushed them away. This is my first and only first marathon I will ever have… and I will be darned if I taint it by worrying. I have prepared the best I could… err… the best I ever will for my first marathon =). I am sure I will present myself with some ‘opportunities for improvement’ as they like to say where I work. Maybe even some big ones…. but they are just part of the journey… part of my training as I move forward. Now it is time to relax and enjoy the run.