Day 6: Count-Down to the Marathon

Navigational Art and Directions By Colleen Yorke © 2015.

-->For more than four months we have trained running those elusive 26.2 miles of silliness that will reward us with a new title "Marathoner", and now we are 6 days away. The main goal of race-week workouts is to keep an equilibrium between resting and maintaining. Some of us like to visualize the race-day routine by doing some last race-simulation workouts, knocking out last kinks in our nutrition plans, and doing a final dress rehearsal in the shoes and clothes we will be wearing this weekend.

Training with some runners from the DTLA Running Group.

One of the hardest things to keep in check this week are nerves. Suddenly we are hit with fear. We see ourselves stand on the starting line and wonder: Am I going to make it today? The marathon makes us feel vulnerable — suddenly we are a number among many trying to conquer another world. Everyone is watching. While it is important to get ourselves into a "running mode", it is also important that we do not let our nerves lead us to exhaustion. Over the next few days we should try to get an extra hour or two of sleep each night. Chances are we’ll be too anxious or excited to sleep well on the night before. A balanced diet and good hydration is equally important. We should run a little, and focus on those feet dancing on the pavement. They have accompanied us on many training runs, so why should they not be with us on the longest run of our lives? By owning our feelings we have taken the first step toward gaining control over the situation. In the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt we gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face. We must do the thing which we think we cannot do.

Question less, trust more — just do it.