24 days to Boston and I'm tired

I'm worn out...physically and mentally. Except for the 2 week break after the Houston Marathon in January, I've been training non-stop since mid-June 2005.

It's been months and months and months of training.

Running almost every single day.

Logging the runs, counting the miles, loop after loop, workout after workout. The aches and the pains...they're taking their toll.

In other words, I'm tired.

It's now less than four weeks to the start of the Boston Marathon. Actually its exactly 24 days and 25 minutes if you consider CST and if you're lucky enough to start at noon.

What to do?
Time to focus that's what.
It's about closure. Yep, this is the hard part. It's work.

Fortunately, tapering starts next week. There is relief in the taper. The aches and pains will slip away. The mileage will drop and the mind will clear.

A week before the race, I'll start checking weather reports, focusing on my diet, and, of course, staying away from absolutely everyone who might make me sick. Four days before the race, I'll go to work, lock myself in my office and conduct business only through email or conference calls...there will be no face-to-face meetings.

The plane flight from Houston to Boston will arrive earlier than scheduled. It'll be a full flight, of course, but everyone on the plane will be a skinny runner. Planes fly much faster with runners on board. Excitement will be in the air, lots of chatter, and there will even be a line to the toilet during the entire flight.

The plane will land and the Boston experience will officially begin. This what all the work was for. Gosh...I'm getting excited just writing about this stuff!

That said, I can't wait 'til the marathon is over. To sleep past 6am two days in a row will be as good as it gets.