Home Stretch

Six days to go. Eighteen more meals, four more work days, two more runs, one more visit to the PT, six more sleeps (most of them restless, a few of them, I hope, restful). Lots of stretching.
I feel like this race was more real two weeks ago, when I ran my last long run. Since then, I haven’t quite been slacking off, but nor have I really been training. A run here, a run there, an hour or two on the elliptical…nothing major. I know that’s the point of a taper, and I also know that it makes most runners very antsy. I, on the other hand, am swinging between antsy and sluggish, between being terrified, being excited, and being so very over this whole thing.
I’ve been lucky enough to run every mile of the course—every mile, that is, except for the last five. Tomorrow after work I’m planning to take the T out to Boston College and run down to Cleveland Circle, through Brookline to Coolidge Corner, past Fenway Park into Kenmore Square, down Commonwealth Ave, right-on-Hereford-left-on-Boylston and up to the finish line in Copley. I need to know exactly how far it is from the top of Heartbreak to the end—it will be too easy just to feel like I’m finished when I get to the top of the hill, when I’ll still have an hour of running ahead of me. I also want to cross that golden finish line on Boylston Street strong and happy at least once.
They say that training is 90% physical and 10% mental, and that race day is the opposite. Rallying all my mental strength, all my inspiration, is a really hard thing. I’m remembering all the patients and families I’ve met, all the runners who challenge themselves every week, all the money being raised for research. I also remember one summer day when I was eighteen and my dad took me to Vermont to do some hiking. Weakened from chemo, and not in great shape to start with, it was very tough climb for me. I don’t even remember if I finished it. I’ve come so far since then, so far since my first run with TNT: I’ve run hundreds and hundreds of miles. I think that remembering those miles is going to help me run these last 26.
I wish I had all kinds of after-school-special words of wisdom about marathon training, what it’s taught me, how it’s made me a better person…but I don’t. Yes, I think it has taught me things, and yes, I think running has been a force for good in my life, but I think those realizations come long after that finish line and many others have been crossed, after the pain has mostly been forgotten (after the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor…). Right now I’m just trying to remember to drink lots of water, to stretch, and to sleep.
Some of you have asked me where on the course would be the best spot to see me. I don’t expect to get to the finish line before 4:00, which means I’ll be running through Coolidge Corner a little before that (I hope!). If anyone has an inclination to run a little, I think the miles in Wellesley are going to be hard (from Wellesley College down to Newton), as are the miles after BC. Heartbreak hill itself is going to be a personal journey, I think, although I’ll probably be happy for the company come race day.
Below are some pictures from our 20-miler…enjoy, and wish me luck!