Ode to Mr. Taper and Nervous Energy

It is hard to believe the Disney race is almost here, I mean, I've only been thinking and planning for this for the last half year. If you had told me 5 years ago that in a few days I would not only be racing for 3 days in a row but completing my 5th marathon, I would have laughed out loud. Long gone are those sluggish days where I could hardly wait to get into bed...wait, I still can't wait to go to bed but at least now it's not because I'm sluggish! Running has transformed my life in so many ways, I can't believe I am where I am today. I am thankful to be here though and that I have the opportunity to coach others to reach their goals. But this is supposed to be an ode to Mr. Taper...you can tell I have nervous energy already! I don't like the taper period simply because you don't run your regular mileage. Granted, you need to rest up and store that glycogen in your muscles for the big race but still...anyway, it is a necessary evil and one that is almost over. Come Sunday morning at 3am I may be wishing I was tapering again. Not sure if I will have time to blog again before the race so I wanted to let you know my "plan". I plan to run the 5K and half marathon at an easy pace. My goal for the 5K is anywhere between 26-28 minutes and the half is anywhere around 2 hours. Come marathon day, I will begin with the 3:45 pace group and see how that goes. I'm not really expecting to BQ but I would seriously kick myself in the butt if I woke up and felt the best I ever felt and had not prepared to race for a BQ. I told Will to not worry as I may be way past 4 hours, even 5. Who knows how my body will respond to what I'm getting ready to put it through. You can be sure of 1 thing-whatever time I finish is pretty much all I had to give that day. There will be other races--Myrtle Beach in fact--Really the important thing for this weekend is to complete the Dopey Challenge, get those 4 medals, wear them proudly in the park (for about 5 minutes) and get my picture taken with the Big Mouse himself. I will ask him once again if he is proud of me and I know he will shake his head furiously!! I think I need to get my picture taken with Goofy and Dopey too now that I think about it! Thanks to you all for your support! I know many of you have told me that you enjoy the runner tracking and hearing about my racing ventures so that you don't have to run yourself haha or you just like living through me and my crazy running and I appreciate that more than you know! It's been a fun journey getting to this really crazy race--and no, no, no- Charles, Joey, Jack, John, Blanca, and all you other ultra runners--I have no plans to switch to the dark side. My race is over a 3 day period-you crazies do yours all in one day! Check my facebook page on race day and you will see the split times!