This time next Saturday I’ll be about 2 hours into my route. This will be the first milestone of the day. Up to now, my longest run has been about an hour and 50 minutes. While my 50k50y is going to be more walking than running, 2 hours is still 2 hours.
For this week leading up to my birthday I’m going to focus on just a few things. 1st thing is plenty of rest. I will still be getting in as many steps as I can, but I want to get to bed early and make sure my body (especially my knees) are rested and ready of 10 hours of walking and running. The 2nd thing is my nutrition. I’m going to be on a very strict diet, no fast food this week. Lots of vegetables and low fat protein. I haven’t decided what my Friday night meal will be yet. Carbs are the best choice for long distance walking but I’m not sure how I’ll get them. Maybe spaghetti. Lastly, I’m going to get mentally prepared. When I began this quest the days were warm, I was off 2 days a week and it was easy to run. Now the days are cold and dreary, darkness comes earlier, work is keeping me busy at least 6 days a week. All of this makes it much harder to get motivated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not backing out, I’m going to do this, I just have to get back in the right frame of mind. Get into my summer frame of mind. This last week has helped, we’ve been on fall break. That’s giving me time to clear my desk and take some time off with the family.
So the bottom line is while the reality of this is creeping in and scaring me a little, I’m excited to do this and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 50 amazing years my family and my God have given me.
