aboutfoodfashionexercisecontact

Thursday, April 3, 2014

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?

Signature

4 comments:

  1. Yay! So excited to hear all about it. Just trust your training and have fun! Keep telling yourself that any pain or tiredness you have is temporary. Don't walk until you ABSOLUTELY have to.

    You will kill it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeay! Congrats and good luck! Can't wait to read all about it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're amazing Ashley!!! I can't wait to hear how it goes! :)

    I wish I had your dedication!

    ReplyDelete
  4. yay how exciting your first marathon!! i think it is normal to be nervous you are running 26.2 miles after all and you will rock it.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! I always love seeing what my readers have to say! Please make sure your email address is set up with your profile so that I am able to respond to you. If you have a specific question please feel free to email me at sweetcarolinabelle@gmail.com.