As I finish training

Marathon training is complete - Now there are only 8 days and 26.2 miles until I am a marathon finisher.

Spreading Halloween cheer in the first mile

Today I ran my last long training run. I expected it to be awesome like my last long run, and I was humbled. It was tough. I thought I had my act together, but I really did not fuel the right way the night before, so I felt like I was dragging through the entire 17 mile run.  The upshot is that I know I can make it through when I feel like there isn't anything in the tank, which I suspect will be the final 6 miles or so.

Today's run felt like what I was expecting with my previous 17 miler - tired, achy, and pushing to get through. But that's not what I experienced last time, so I know that if I prepare properly, it doesn't have to be like that. And I don't expect that it will. I know to fuel properly in the days preceding the race, and I will be pumped up by the energy of the event and running with others, so I am not worried.

I wish that today's run had been more exhilarating, but it was a fresh, cool day, and as I traveled to and from the park where I ran, I was moved by the fading fall scenery. The variations between the brown stark trees high on the hills and the deep yellow leaves still clinging to trees at lower elevations were dramatic. The ridges themselves loomed up so impressively that as I drove by farms in the valley, I wanted to pull over and take a picture. And at one point, on a high hill driving north, I was shocked to see tall mountain peaks rising in layers on the horizon. I've looked at a topography map, and although they seem impossibly far away, I can only conclude that those peaks were the Catskills (which, as the crow flies, are much closer than I thought).

And so, even though it wasn't the best run of my training cycle, I changed, ate, stretched, and smiled. I'm almost there!