It's Cleveland Marathon Race Week

In case you haven't heard me say it like 100 times on Facebook or Twitter or instagram, it's Cleveland Marathon week! I should not be nervous to run a marathon. This is not my first or even second full. It's actually my third. Back in 2010 I ran it and thought I would qualify for Boston easily on my first try. Much to my dismay it was a lot harder than I estimated and my time of 4:17 and change was not even close to good enough to BQ.

For the next two seasons I battled injuries as I built my endurance. Last year after a breakthrough in training and staying injury free I think I was more ready to attempt a Boston worthy race but alas it was a brutally hot day and my last 10K wasn't too pretty. I had assumed I would at least break 4 and wasn't able to do it. My time of 4:09 was not up to par.

So, no pressure on this third try, right? I only need to take off 29 minutes off my best time. Easy Peasy. I kindof laugh when I think about it. My coach says based on my races this year I can qualify. The 20 Mile Drop last month was a good indicator that I'm ready and now it's time to see if I can do it. They say the third time is the charm and I sure as hell hope that is the case for me this weekend as I line up at the start of my third full marathon (all in Cleveland). 

With the new course and projected temperatures of 20-30 degrees cooler things look promising. I just need to contain myself during this taper, load up on the carbs, stay calm and run 26.2 according to the plan. Steady as she goes at around an 8:15 pace. Should be easy, right?! Wish me luck!!

sporting marathon colors!

And as some extra motivation this week I have created a kick ass new playlist, ordered the coolest sports bra ever invented that stores multiple gels in it and had my nails done today in Cleveland Marathon colors! You gotta look good and feel good when you're running a big race, right?! 

Watch for the race results on Twitter and Facebook and I'll plan to have a full report on the blog next week.