Ecouragement please - First marathon this Saturday

Somebody_Loved

Hi All,

This is me shamelessly asking for some support. I'm so nervous (and excited) about my marathon this Saturday, but freaking out a little bit. I came down with the flu earlier this week. My fever broke yesterday and I'm pumping myself full of fluids, etc. but I definitely don't feel like myself.

I'm going to run a couple miles tomorrow to be sure I feel okay but now I'm so scared I won't be able to finish on Saturday. I'm trying not to do the negative self talk thing, but as if I wasn't nervous enough already, getting sick has kind of thrown me.

Any words of encouragement, advice, etc would be so greatly appreciated!!

RoxieDawn

Go run and let fate fall where it may..

You can only do as much as the body will let you do. How sick are you still? I cannot say, but get up, put the shoes on, let the butterflies even be a little motivator, sometimes I run better with the butterflies on race day, I am usually not thinking about how bad I may or may not feel.

jessiruthica

Go, Sister, Go!

You've done the training, the long miles. Your body knows what it needs to do.

It is unfortunate that you've been sick, so maybe set your finish time expectations a little lower than original. What's the time limit on the course? What's your expected pace? As long as you've got wiggle room between those two things, then give yourself the freedom to walk when you need to. Walk at least through all the aid stations to keep up your hydration.

Stick with whatever plan you've had up until the illness but give yourself a break if you can't go as fast as you originally wanted to.

You can 100% do this! I'm excited to see finish line pictures! Please post back here!

Somebody_Loved

jessiruthica wrote: »

Go, Sister, Go!

You've done the training, the long miles. Your body knows what it needs to do.

It is unfortunate that you've been sick, so maybe set your finish time expectations a little lower than original. What's the time limit on the course? What's your expected pace? As long as you've got wiggle room between those two things, then give yourself the freedom to walk when you need to. Walk at least through all the aid stations to keep up your hydration.

Stick with whatever plan you've had up until the illness but give yourself a break if you can't go as fast as you originally wanted to.

You can 100% do this! I'm excited to see finish line pictures! Please post back here!

This is what I'm planning on doing. I've abandoned my loose time goal and just want to finish now, and will walk through water stops to help with that. My original goal was ~4:35 and the course limit is 6 hours so I've got time. Thank you so much, I'll for sure post back after the weekend!

47Jacqueline

Since you've been sick, I'd just try to finish and not worry about speed. I would imagine you weren't thinking in terms of winning to begin with, since it's your first one, so finishing should be an accomplishment in itself even if you hadn't been sick. Good luck!

Somebody_Loved

Thank you all so much, I seriously appreciate it! I'll definitely let go of any time goal I had and just focus on finishing. Besides, the longer it takes me to finish, the more opportunity for improvement next time around.