Runners

It is so easy for so many of us to become a little complacent during these final weeks of training. We have been running this routine for a number of weeks already. We know how to plan the rest of our day/weekend around our long run as it is one of the most essential pieces to the marathon puzzle.

Come long run day, we know we how to fuel correctly in the days leading up to it and we know how much water to drink in the hours before leaving the house. We know where our gear is, which playlist we are going to run to, and the amount of time we need to budget for the miles we are going to run.

We know during the run what to eat and drink and when to do it. Some of us also map out routes that coincide with restrooms, just in case. We know during the run there are going to be times where we think we just can’t run another step and there are also times we feel we could run for days. We know during that last mile we can push it hard, because the faster we go, the sooner we can do other things that may involve not being on our feet.

We know the moment we get back from a run we need to stretch really well. We also know that some of those muscles may not want to stretch and there may be some, or a lot, of pain involved. We know how to fuel post run and how excellent it feels to get out of our sweaty clothes and into the shower. By now, we can tell you every muscle that is going to hurt and how long it will hurt for.  We know that a nap is in order, even if it is fit for a cat.

We know that come race day, everything we have practiced will come full circle. Despite the aches and pains, all of the persistence (especially in this weather) will have paid off. We will run our race with a few thousand other people who have done the exact same thing in the exact same fashion for the exact same amount of time.  We know that whether we finish in 2 hours or 7 hours we have all put in the time to be there.  We will give these hours every last ounce of what we have, because, after all, we owe it to ourselves.

We deserve to feel fantastic about the choice we have made to be a runner. Routine aside, I will bet that you will never regret being a runner.

Runners, you rock!

Samantha Van Dehy

P.S. These miles are for you, Boston!