One month to go!

I can't believe that today is October 5 and I have ONE MONTH left before the marathon of my lifetime! Last weekend I ran an 18 mile long training run. Tomorrow I have a short 12 mile run. My training mileage peaks on Oct 12 with a 20 mile run then I taper down until the big day. These next few weeks will fly by. Each time I have a long run, I just focus on the number of miles I need to complete. I use Endomondo on my iPhone to track my pace and mileage. And every week, once I hit that number, you can almost hear the squeal of my brakes as I stop. I always end my runs feeling like I could not have taken one more step, and then I start getting nervous about the next long training run. But I felt this way after my 10, 12 and 16 mile runs, just to go out next week and do a few more miles. Knock wood, but I feel pretty confident about my 20 miler in a few weeks.

My shorter training runs have now moved inside on a treadmill. It is just too hot by the time I drop the kids off at school at 7:30 to start a run outside. I enjoy treadmill running because it is air conditioned and I can set a goal pace and stick to it. I'm much faster on a treadmill than outside in the blazing sun and heat. If I can manage to run outside before the kids go to school during the week, I run the route from my house down a big hill to Magen's Bay and then back up the hill. The hills are important and necessary for training, but they are NOT fun at all.

I have to say, though, I am looking forward to NOT training for a marathon anymore. I miss sleeping in a bit on weekend mornings, making breakfast and lounging around with my coffee. The long weekend runs take everything out of you and it takes the rest of the weekend to recover. You kind of slowly hobble around for a day or two after. BUT, I do love, love, LOVE the feeling of accomplishment I have after I finish one of those long ones and I love how my body is becoming stronger and leaner. And I love that I'm running with a great group of people on Team Ritter. Many of us are marathon first-timers. And all of their stories of why they are running with Team Ritter are very inspiring. I am glad that we are in this thing together. Read the stories of Team Ritter here.

I have watched this video many times. Each time I watch it, I get teary eyed and excited. Nervous, but excited. I am so looking forward to running this marathon. I hope and pray that the next month goes by smoothly, with no injuries or sickness.

We are bringing the kids to NYC with us. They are excited about me running in the marathon and ask "what do you get if you win?" Haha! Gabe is so concerned about making sure he gets to the Lego store and FAO Schwartz. Lily is ready to see Phantom of the Opera. My niece, Allyssa, is joining us for two days and she is going to take pictures for me to capture the weekend. Hopefully, she will find me somewhere on the course. And hopefully I will look like "Ridiculously Photogenic Gal" and not grotesquely distorted and in pain!!

I do not have any plans to train for another marathon. I am excited to do half marathons, in fact, I recently signed up for the Miami Half Marathon in February. I like to run for a goal.

That's it for now. Nothing deep and insightful. Just plugging away and getting excited about NYC on November 3.