It's taper time in the citttyyyyyyy.........(for Memphis, that is ;)

The week has come-------crazy how it seems to fly by since the NY marathon! I did my last "real" run today with a few strides to test out the legs. I really have no idea what to expect from this marathon, seeing that I have never tried multiple marathons within 4 weeks of one another. I seem to be feeling ok, besides a little bit of ache in my left knee since NY----I am hoping this is just the shift to cold weather. I seem to feel my joints more in the winter than summer conditions.

My Predictions for Memphis (yes, I know these are pretty much every outcome there is, but I'm throwin' them all out there ;) LOL!!


1) I might possibly PR due to Memphis being an easier course than New York. (This would be awesome, but might be asking too much--- p.s. I really hate even including this setence b/c I always feel I am jinxing myself by predicting things ;D
2) Pure exhaustion will come out during this marathon due to NY and not recovering enough and I might bomb this one-----(Oh gosh, I hope not:(
3) I might possibly have some type of injury in my knee lurking and it will only rear its ugly head during the middle miles of the marathon and I might have to sit out the rest ........Yeah, go ahead, laugh.......I worry excessively and the preacher said in church a couple weeks ago that worrying is a sin in itself.......Note to self-----QUIT worrying so freaking' much about worst-case scenarios!!!!!!!! (ok, I feel better now.........It's ALL out on the table ;) em>

Matt has not run since last Wednesday......he has converted to pool running to give the foot a break and is thinking of testing it out Friday morning. It will really be a game-day decision for him. I am hoping that he will be fine; I would love to run beside him the whole way---I know we could push each other through the hard miles toward the end. I don't, however, want him to become injured from "toughing it out" on this marathon. He doesn't enjoy marathons as much as me; he would rather do triathlons. So, it is worth him just doing the half instead of the full marathon if it is hurting him, in order to be fully healed by January for the start of Ironman Canada training. We are thinking of taking a full two weeks off from running and biking after Memphis.............Wow that will be hard for me because running is my stress-reliever ;) We will still swim to keep the fitness up. We both feel we would benefit from a nice break during Christmas in order to get back into the groove of Ironman training in January. I want to be fresh when we start back up!!

We will be getting a new addition to the family this weekend as well ;) Her name will be Sadie and she is a chocolate Doodle. Ollie is going to be SO excited----I can't wait for him to have a friend to play with and know that while we are away all day, he is not lonely and sad...........I will feel MUCH better knowing they are together enjoying each other's company :) We are picking her up in Arkansas, about a 45 minute drive from Memphis. It will be a long ride back after running the marathon, picking her up, and driving right back to Jackson. We are just trying to save some money through the holidays by not staying another night in Memphis.

We've been talking a lot lately and trying to plan things out a little more for the future----paying off some debt, where we want to live and options for us to live, children, etc. I am getting a little baby itch right now. Matt just laughs and says, "Well, we can solve that problem!!" We want to wait at least until Ironman Canada is over.....then we shall see!! The longer we can hold off for Matt to be almost finished with his fellowship, the better it will be financially for all of us, and I can convert to "stay-at-home mommy" like I have always dreamed of doing :)

Please coninue to pray for my Dad and stepmom. Her Alzheimer's is getting worse, and he will, in fact, be retiring at the end of the year to take care of her. I talked to her for the first time today and my heart goes out to them. I worry about my Dad and the stress brought on right now through all of this as well. He is trying to sell his house in Texas in order to move back to Meridian. I know all I can do is trust in the Lord and pray for them and love them at this time. As difficult as this is for them and as much as we want to help, that's all we can do right now. God does answer prayers, even though we may not understand all of this right now.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season, and we will report back after Memphis!!