Marathon Countdown: Nervous Jitter

It is difficult for me to believe that less than two weeks from now I will be running my first marathon! I finished my last long run and am now focused on resting my legs. When I signed up for the race, I had one goal which was crossing the finish line.

I trained lat year for a marathon and got injured less than a month from race day. That injury kept me from running for three months. This time I wanted to do everything I could to prevent injury. Two things I did to help prevent injury is build endurance and  keep an easy pace. I started doing long runs (more than 8 miles) in November to build up my endurance. Also, I have slowed my pace way down. I am running a pace on my long runs that is significantly slower than my ability.

It has been extremely hard for me not to set a time goal for this race. I can't explain the competitiveness that occurs during a race. I am not a competitive person at all. But passing another runner gives me such a thrill! In contrast, it is just as disappointing when someone passes me when I am feeling super strong. One thing I keep reminding myself for this race is everyone has different goals. I am going to focus on my goal and not compare myself to others.

I have kept it super safe with my training. Like most runners, I have had a few off runs during my training. However, I never experienced a miserable or extremely tough long run. Never experiencing any bad runs to really push through has made me extremely nervous for race day! I am praying that with the addition of race day adrenaline I will have an amazing race as well. If that does not work then I will just switch my focus to amazing post marathon brunch. Since I foresee several mimosas in my future once I cross the finish line.

Any tips to calm pre-race jitters?