Wow...can you believe the marathon is only 2 1/2 weeks away?? I've gotten a little behind on the updates and blogging...it's been a crazy couple of weeks!

We had some hot and humid weather for the Bear Water Run...but we all finished strong!! It was great to have almost everyone at the event (Adam decided he needed to do some massive bike ride instead:-)) and it was a good practice for the upcoming marathon!

The Twin Cities Marathon Participant Guide is available on the website if you want to look through it before it arrives in your mailbox sometime this week. You can check it out here: http://www.mtcmarathon.org/Upload/documents/Marathon%20guide_2009_FINAL.pdf

This Wednesday we can all look forward to our favorites...intervals and hills!! Even though we're tapering I guess that doesn't mean we get to skip the hills:-P 

After we run, Michael Egan from Performance Acupuncture will be speaking about Chinese medicine, acupuncture, his focus on athletes, and more. He's someone that I highly reccomend and I hope you can all be there to meet him.

This Saturday several of us are participating in the Dave Ryan 5K...as a result you have several options for your "long" run this week:
    ~~Run the route posted on our running schedule and then run the 5K for an additional 3.1 miles.
    ~~Run the route posted on our running schedule.
    ~~Run 10 - 13 miles on your own.
If you run fewer miles, focus on speed and running faster!!!

This Saturday is also the "packet stuffing" volunteer event. Complete details are available in the document which I have attached below. Talk to PJ if you have any questions!!

I think that's it for now! If I get any more information I will post later this week. See you all on Wednesday!!

I was at Marathon Sports tonight to buy a bunch of GU and one of the guys asked me if I was getting ready for a race. I said that I was running Twin Cities Marathon and had a couple of big runs coming up. He asked how it was going, and I said good...but that I was getting nervous about the race. His response was that if I had done the preparation then I had no reason to be nervous...that as long as I did my long runs then I was going to be fine!!!

So I will use those words to encourage all of us...we all know that we've been preparing and we've been doing our long runs...so we are all going to be just fine...we may not able to move after we finish...but we will finish and be fine!

This week is our 18 mile long run...and I've got a bunch of information from PJ...be sure to read everything below.J

· Bring water that you can carry on the run! There are approx. 5 water stops along the course, but there is a large part of the route that does not have water.
      **Make sure to get water on West River Parkway, past Lake Street and at East 29th Street (Mile 11.5 of
         the route). There is not another water stop until you are back to the north end of Calhoun at mile 16.5.

·  Review the route and especially note where you enter The Greenway from West River Parkway. You enter near East 27th Street. There is a three-way stop and it is before you go under the railroad tracks.

·  Run at a good pace! This is the last run before our race next week. During the 20 mile we will focus on stepping on the pace and running a little faster than normal.

·  Bring water and food for after the run...you want to make sure you can eat something soon after you stop running.

·  This is a great chance to use GU (or gel, or jelly beans, or some other carb source) and practice for the marathon...you don't want to use something for the first time on race day!

·  Focus on eating well, drinking lots of water, and getting lots of rest! The next ten days are the pinnacle of your training! Enjoy it…and Finish Strong!!!

· If you haven’t done so yet…make sure you get signed up for the Bear Water Run! It is next Saturday, Sept. 12!

This is going to be fun!! (Well, maybe not fun…but it will be great when we’re doneJ) Get some rest! Eat some carbs!! We’ll see you on Saturday!!!