I CAN ALMOST SEE THE STARTING LINE!

CHICAGO MARATHON HERE I COME!

THIS IS MY LAST POST BEFORE HEADING TO THE WINDY CITY

Nervous? You bet. Excited? Hell ya!  I can’t believe I’m actually running in one of the 6 largest and renowned marathons in the world.  I’ll be one of 45,000 runners from 135 different countries. Last year the estimated on-course spectators were 1.7 million!!! Insane – right?  

After nearly 18 weeks of training, I’m now in the luxurious ‘tapering’ phase of my training plan. Yippee! The hard work is almost done.  Only a handful of short runs left so my legs will be well rested before they have to carry me 42.2 kilometers to the finish line on the big day. It’s my first ever marathon and although I’ve never run that far before (my longest training run was 35k), I know this is just as much a mental game as it is a physical fitness challenge.  I’m feeling good (knock on wood). I’m praying that nothing goes wrong between now and October 13th. 

Thank you hips, legs, knees and feet  

Now, apart from being a complete germophobe to avoid getting sick, I’ve been trying my best to avoid sugar and anything else that causes inflammation.  My go-to ‘Fruity Chia Seed Pudding’ is naturally sweetened and perfect for when those sugar cravings get to me. Here’s the recipe link.   “Born To Run” author Christopher McDougall discovered that chia seeds were used by a tribe of super athletes – the world’s greatest long distance runners in Northwest Mexico.  They drank chia seeds and lemon to give them stamina and hydration for long running journeys. Can’t hurt, right?

It’s been quite a journey and I’ve enjoyed sharing a lot of it with you (See Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3,  Part 4, Part 5 ). So, what is there left to say? For starters, why don’t you try running?  If your joints will allow you to – give it a go.  Even if it’s just around the block. That would be awesome.  It’s cheap. It’s social.  It gets you outside – not easy in winter.  You can do it anywhere.  Even though its torture at first, hang in there, because it feels good (especially when you are done LOL!).  Bonus – it’s good for you.  Heck, you may end up like me and actually fall in love with it.  (What? Did I just say I love it???)

Should you do decide to lace up at some point, I’ve got a handful of weird and wacky final lessons I plan to share with you if and when I survive the race – so stay tuned for my next post. 

RUNNING TO RAISE MONEY FOR AN IMPORTANT CAUSE

A HUGE thanks to those who have supported me running my first marathon by donating to Jacob’s Ladder (Canadian Foundation for Control of Neurodegenerative Disease) – a charity that I am raising money for.  If you want to know more about the impact Jacob Schwartz (for whom the charity was named after) had in his short life, read about the life lessons his mother Ellen learned from him and shared with us all here.   I should mention that the article was written when Jacob was still alive.  (He unfortunately passed away this year).  In case you’d like to donate and haven’t had the chance, here’s the link.   My heartfelt appreciation.

Ok! That’s it! Wish me luck.

I can’t wait to have my first Negroni when it’s done!  I did some serious scaling back on the alcohol front since July.  Thank you to all who have run with me and helped make this happen (especially my coach Julie Snyder and husband Andrew who is joining me in Chicago).  Thanks to all of YOU for reading this and following along with me on my journey.  It fuels me!

I leave you with this quote from ultramarathon runner Dean Karnazes.  I’m sure I’ll be repeating it to myself on race day:

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up”