Run with Jess: Marathon #3 Here I Come! #Rt66Run

Tomorrow I embark on a projected 9 hour road trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to run my third full marathon. (Technically speaking, since I'm taking the detour to make it 26.5, it's the world's shortest ultra-marathon.) A marathon is never a small feat, so of course I'm both nervous and excited. Thankfully, I have my two best run buddies, Patty and Laura, making the trip with me. They too will be running 26.5 to earn this awesome bling...

Training for the Williams Route 66 Marathon has not gone as I had hoped. First, I was derailed nearly a month with a toe injury. Now I've come down with a head/chest cold on race week. Needless to say, this won't be a PR attempt. I like to be an optimist, a dreamer, but it's just not in the cards right now. When I ran Wisconsin this past spring, I was in great shape and ready to kill the mary. My 4:18:56 PR will surely stand until Eugene 2013.

I'm a person who likes to run against the clock. I like to compete with my myself... or whomever happens to be running next to me. It's just my nature. I certainly don't "fun run" very well during races. So I've been a little perplexed on exactly how to approach this marathon. I got outside today for an easy 4 miles. It felt good to get the legs moving, heart pumping and sweat dripping once again. (I took 3 days off to rest my sick, exhausted body after Disney) As always, the run focused my priorities and helped me to think clearly. Running has always been the best version of "me-time" this momma could ever ask for.

My goal for Sunday is to finish somewhere between my first and my second marathon times. That gives me a window of 4:18 to 4:43. I will be happy if it's under 4:30, which would be a 10:17 average pace. Normally, I'd say I can do that, but this course doesn't look to be the easiest. There are hills, the worst being at the the end, so I'm told. I took some time today to "visually run" the course by mapping it out on MapMyRun. I got to watch the hills unfold... and prayed for strength. This may be my most challenging run yet.