Words from Mile Markers

Kristen Armstrong’s book Mile Markers has been a fun source of comfort and “frienship” during marathon training. She writes like she knows you and I sometimes feel like I am in her running group on the weekends. She verbalizes what I know to be true about running but never put words to it. I wanted to share some of my favorite lines from her book. Hope you are are inspired like I was by her honesty.

From: Chapter 23: Race Day

“Paige (her best friend) loves race day. She is giddy, enthusastic, childlike in her exeberance. I am moody, fearful, stressed, sarcastic, and overly anxious. I can never sleep, alternating between worries about bonking and not hearning my alarm go off…. I love training-most of the time, anyway. I love the time with my friends and the deliberate process of preparation. I guess what I don’t like about race day (which is, ironically what Paige loves) is the notion of being put to the test. Race day is when all your time and energy spent in preparation either yeild the result you were aiming for- or they don’t. ”

I want to be a Paige but I am also a mixture of a Kristen. I am very much giddy, coltish (I mean, I had my bags packed on Tuesday and I am not leaving until Friday morning. I now officially have to wear old, gross clothes because all of my new, cute ones were packed days ago.) I do worry about not hearing my alarm, but I am thankful that my best friend Joan will be with me. I do not want to fear the bonk, but know that it comes with the territory.

I am mostly excited about being put to the test. When all of my training will yeild the result I want… to complete my first 26.2 adventure with grace and respect of the distance.

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The more I check the elevation on the course map… the more I am thinking that it is all downhill after the half marathon… literally.