alone but not lonely

Getting ready to go to St.George tomorrow.

Ran a couple miles today and was happy, despite my dry sore throat and congested head. Felt sleepy though. Hopefully the next 2 days will help me get rid of this cold.

I was thinking about this marathon and running in general. I'm sure people's running/fitness style changes as you learn and try new things...and get old. Four things runners are particular about: shoes, ipod or not, heart rate monitor or not, and food.

For this marathon I have trained alone and toward the last few weeks quit using my ipod. As with training for anything I got into a ritual before my long runs. I always ate the same thing (half a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter and honey and a few bites of fruit) and wore the same thing-give or take a few layers depending on this crazy Utah weather. And yes, I train with a HR monitor. I drink gatorade and eat GU during my runs, maybe a few pieces of candy. I run in the Merrell Pace Glove...I'm testing to see if any of the "Born to Run" stuff is true :) I started about a year ago wearing minimalist shoes just to walk around in, then would go a few miles, and had to change my stride. I'm glad I did. I haven't had any injuries or persistent aches.

I was dreading training at first, but also looking forward to it, because the point of it all is to challenge myself. Can I really do it? So far, so good. Listening to something while I run can be motivating and nice to pass the time-but when I don't, I am much more aware of my body and what's going on around me. I've done this on purpose because I want to know that I can run on my own. I don't have to have music or a running partner to motivate me. And this may be my first and last marathon so I want to take it all in (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

We'll see how much good this all does me on Saturday!

this is a view of mile 8 going downhill, and mile 18 going up on the way back