Week 16 – Marathon Musings: Race Week Thoughts

May 2024 Steph run in honor of this girl right here; who would have thought one Chicago Marathon would change her life?

It’s race week. In fact, this post is being published 3 days before the Chicago Marathon. In many ways I can’t believe the time has come. The start of a training cycle is always full of so much hope with maybe a dash of trepidation. A 16-to-20-week training cycle feels so long, but once the rhythm of it is set, weeks pass, and workouts build and suddenly it’s showtime.

How am I feeling with the race being days away? I don’t even know! I’ve always said that there are no guarantees in the marathon and this training cycle has taught me that there are no guarantees in running period. Life can come at you quick and this training cycle has been full of reminders that running is not only something I choose to do, but also something I get to do.

Fitting running into Life can be a dance, where both move together effortlessly. It can also be a give-and-take full of negotiations, sacrifices, and compromises. To be able to make it through weeks of building mileage and intensity while experiencing the ebbs and flows of Life is an accomplishment in and of itself. An accomplishment that, truthfully, I have taken for granted in the past.  

The curveballs of this training cycle have changed and reshaped me. Who I was when I started training for Chicago in June is not who I am now. That’s a beautiful and brutal reality and one that I have spent a good chunk of this taper thinking about and processing.

To be a runner is to do more than run. To choose train for a marathon is to choose bigger for yourself. I don’t know what race day holds for me, but I am ready to find out.

Marathon History:

• 2014 Chicago Marathon

• 2015 Miami Marathon

• 2015 Berlin Marathon

• 2015 Chicago Marathon

• 2016 Chicago Marathon

• 2016 NYC Marathon

• 2017 Chicago Marathon

• 2018 Chicago Marathon

• 2021 Chicago Marathon

• 2023 London Marathon

• 2023 Marine Corps Marathon

Marathon Musings series:

• Week 1 - Marathon Musings: Why I Run Marathons

• Week 2 - Marathon Musings: Why Marathoning Now

• Week 3 - Marathon Musings: Mentally A Marathoner

• Week 4 - Marathon Musings: The Power of Words

• Week 5 – Marathon Musings: Calling It Quits

• Week 6 – Marathon Musings: The Power of Consistency

• Week 7 - Marathon Musings: On Staying Flexible

• Week 8 – Marathon Musings: More Than a Pace

• Week 9 – Marathon Musings: The Power of Rest

• Week 10 – Marathon Musings: Be Proud of Yourself

• Week 11 - Marathon Musings: Imperfect IS Perfect

• Week 12 – Marathon Musings: Embrace Your Training

• Week 13 – Marathon Musings: The Hardest Comparison

• Week 14 – Marathon Musings: All About Control

• Week 15 – Marathon Musings: On Goal Setting

16 weeks of musings written. A goal of mine was to write these weekly blogs as a way to remember all the ups and downs of training. Goal accomplished!

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