The one-month countdown is on until our big day on November 5th, and I couldn’t be more fired up! The NYC Marathon and Team for Kids both do a great job of posting inspiring messages and Instagram videos to get us dreaming, visualizing, and staying pumped up to reach our goals.

Although my goal may have drifted and morphed into something wildly different than when I started daydreaming about it months and months ago, and then when I actually started training for it twenty weeks ago, I truly believe this is one of the best goals I’ve ever set: simply to have fun and fully enjoy the experience with my friend Janet. It feels perfect.

My training days now feel light, even on the most challenging days, because my entire focus is on enjoying the journey back to the starting line. I’ve thrown out the pressure of what I feel like I “should” be doing in terms of pace and outcomes, and have embraced the place I’m currently at in my mind, body, and spirit. It has been utterly freeing.

As I visualize myself running with Janet from Staten Island, over the Varrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then up to Queens, then the Bronx, and finally back down into Manhattan, the overwhelming thing I see and feel in my mind is giant smile on my face and so much joy and gratitude wrapped around my heart that it lifts me ten feet off the ground.

Here’s a peek at my Week #16 training schedule looked like (Oct 2-8):

• Mon 10/2: Run 5.25 miles (w/ 2.0 mile pick-up effort in the middle), walk with Jeffrey
• Tues 10/3: Spin class 55 min medium EZ (21.5 miles), leg weights
• Wed 10/4: Run 6 miles, undulating hills on Mt. Drive
• Thur 10/5: Rest day
• Fri 10/6: Run 5 miles with 4x80m strides, core
• Sat 10/7: Run 14 miles (cutback week for the long run before next weekend’s 20-miler)
• Sun 10/8: Rest & recovery day

Monday: I was still a little creaky on Monday morning after last Saturday’s 18-miler, but once I got moving, everything worked itself out so it was an enjoyable 5-miler with a push in the middle. Later in the afternoon, I went for a nice walk with my hubby and kept my body in motion, which usually helps, along with healthy nutrition and continuing to focus on recovery. This body isn’t 29 any more, but with some gentleness, It can usually be cajoled into finding its stride.

Tuesday: Just like last week, I used my spin class for an easy/moderate cross-training day to get my heart pumping and my legs flushed out. Normally I start my base around gear 13-14 and build up from there into the high teens or low 20s, but on easier days like this, I start more around 10 and keep the cadence high and lighter. Even when holding back, it’s still a sweatfest that leaves my heart pumping and my energy high. Days like this are about working with your body instead of grinding it down.

Wednesday: Just a straight-forward 6 miles of rolling hills on Mt. Drive, getting the legs ready for the course’s five bridges, and hills in Central Park.

Thursday: On this rest day, I think I finally landed on a pair of shoes that may work for my sassy feet. It has been a lonnnnng time coming, with a lot of trial and error, but hopefully the fifth time is a charm–actually sixth (I forgot I tried the Hoka Challengers before this long line of shoes). Let’s go, Mach Xs. Please, oh please, work for me! I’m starting to feel like the Prince and the Pea.

Friday: I started early on Friday because we are being hit with kooky hot October weather (definitely not sweater weather). 🙂 It was a really nice run, knocking out 5 miles at a gentle pace with 4 x strides at the end.

Saturday: With our heatwave, I started early on my long run, which I was hoping would pay off in droves. Sure enough. So much joy. So much beauty. So many other runners out training along the waterfront. Did a 9 mile loop, refilled bottles, then another 5 mile loop. Soaked my legs in the ocean afterward and stretched on the beach. It’s mornings like these that take marathon training up a notch or two.

Sunday: Today is an active recovery day, walking, chilling out, eating good food, getting organized and prepared for the week ahead. I value this day immensely, and so does my big brown four-legged baby, Doodles. Recharging the batteries does wonders for one’s ability to believe that everything will come together beautifully on race day. When your body has a chance to absorb the load from the week and get fired back up to hit it again on Monday, you feel unstoppable.

Review of SIS (Science in Sport) : The course fuel for the New York Marathon is SIS Isotonic Energy gels. I had never heard of SIS, nor could I find it anywhere in my town (it’s from the UK), so I had to purchase it on Amazon to try it out in case I need to rely on one during the race. Here’s what I thought of it:

Pros: It’s light, liquid’y, and less sugary than most gels, and blissfully less sticky to handle. And most importantly, it sat really well in my stomach (much better than GU or Clif gels), and it doesn’t require any water.
Cons: The size. It feels huge, and I’m not sure how I’ll fit it into my fuel belt if I want to carry my own gels during the race. GU is 1.1 oz and SIS is 2.023 oz. (if I’ve done the conversion correctly). The other con is that I found it really hard to open the top while running. Perhaps it was user error, but I had to stop and try to rip it open with my teeth like a ravenous hyena. Overall though, the pros far outweigh the cons, so I’m going to see if I can make these work.

Parting thought: As we head into the final push to race day, I find my myself often thinking about all the people who have helped me in one way or another to move forward with this goal. It’s hard not to be completely bowled over by the generosity and the outpouring of support.

Then today this meme popped up on my Instagram feed, from Allister McCaw, author of Be Champion Minded. It really hit home so I re-posted it to my story with my added sentiment at the top.

“People who want to see you win, will help you win. Remember that.”

These are the people you want to surround yourself with in sports and in life–people who believe in your dreams just as much as you do. I can think of so many people over the years who have been those people for me. You never forget them.

One of my life goals, which is always a work-in-progress, is to try to be that person for other people, just like so many others have been for me.

Onward and upward we go…

I can’t wait to knock out this last big week of training before we start tapering down. It doesn’t get any more real than nailing your last 20-mile run, and internalizing that feeling that you are absolutely capable of 26.2.

As always, thanks for coming along on this journey back to NYC. As I sign off, I have exciting news to share: my running partner, Janet, will be guest blogging here this week! Swing back by and meet this incredible human being. You’ll know instantly why I count myself lucky to call her my dear friend!

xo Becky

PS: If you’ve missed any of my previous NYC Marathon training posts, you can click here to check them out:

Kicking off 20 Weeks until the NYC Marathon

Week #2 NYC Marathon Training: Patience & Grace

Week #3 NYC Marathon Training: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Week #4-11 NYC Marathon Training: The Good, the Bad & the Evolving

Week #12 NYC Marathon Training: Showing Up

Week #13 NYC Marathon Training: Staying the Course

Week #14 NYC Marathon Training: Honing the Details

Week #15 NYC Marathon Training: Upping our Game