Ready. More Than Ready.

Thanks for the support in this article, Sean and Brantford! 

I am ready. More than ready. Trust me!
My physical body is in its best shape. Ever. And the numbers prove it. I have been sleeping like a baby and have absolutely no niggle about which to complain.
Mentally and emotionally however, I am a bit drained.
My husband has been very busy and away a lot during this marathon build so I feel a little fatigued. The effects of our pastor's death, and my husband's many out of town business trips has worn me out.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for God's blessings. We know Jonathan is serving at our church, has a great job, and is our amazing Team DuChene leader whom I immensely respect. And we have three wonderful children. I know I'm called the Marathon Mom and like I've said many times, I strongly believe God has given me the blessing to juggle everything. But it is work. Hard work at times.
I've seen enough rolled-up socks on the couch, clumps of dog hair, cushions and legos on the floor, un-flushed toilets and training potties, dirty dishes in the sink (across from an empty dishwasher), and mountains of laundry. I've wiped enough bums, heard enough of the same kids' cd that's been stuck in the van for more than a year, given enough baths, cooked enough meals, boughten enough groceries, cut enough pancakes, poured and cleaned up enough glasses of milk, answered enough questions, heard enough crying, whining and fighting, and responded to enough, "Mommy....?'s". Ok, so you get the point. But don't worry. There is a great ending to all of this. Once I get on that flight Aug 2, it will all be behind me. Like the weekends I've enjoyed travelling to race, this will be the same. But better. With tapering and sitting around waiting to race for an entire week, I will start to miss the busy life, get bored and stir-crazy and have all that extra energy saved; that's when I will know I am more than ready! Really, it's my secret weapon! The energy I build during my time away will peak, perfectly. Leaving any sooner would cause me to become flat and fatigued so I'm glad I have one week. I am really starting to get excited. I can feel the love and support from those around me, energizing me even more.
It's going to be good. Great.
With my taper, we are decreasing the volume most significantly now, between the third and second last weeks (138 to 110 km with the last week at 90 km, including the race). We will keep quality in the tempo and track sessions but they won't be as long. This past week I ran 138 km, which included my last and most difficult tempo of 16 km @ 3:28/km within a 26 km run on Monday. It felt like the perfect marathon workout with an even balance between staying tough, mentally and physically. And again, it was on the treadmill since it works so well for me. In fact, I think I did all but one of my tempo runs on the treadmill. No decreasing incline or speed even if you want! On Wednesday Natasha and I chased each other around the track with Rick juggling stopwatches as she did mile repeats and I did 3 x 2.4 km. I felt strong. Finally, on Saturday I did my last long run. I was to do 32 km but Rick and I know that at this point, you do what you want, what you feel like, and what your body says. And for some reason, I wanted to be right at 30 km. I missed seeing James but was glad to have Natasha and Clayton for most of it. They have been an excellent Saturday morning running group. Clayton and I have been running together for over 10 years. I think that when we started, he had one child. Now between us we have six and are still great running friends. Peggy, his wife is a wonderful person who I've admired as a patient and caring mom who also balances part-time work, as a teacher. Thanks for coming out to give Natasha and I our route, Clayton! Of course, thanks to Rachel and Darren coming in from Toronto for those tough tempo long runs!
This week will include one track session with the rest easy running. Lanni's coach and Rick connected a few weeks ago so our week of training in Germany and Moscow will nearly be identical. I look forward to rooming with Lanni again. Like Rotterdam, I'm sure we will gel with our sleeping, eating, relaxing and training routines to have amazing races. Sure, we can be seen as rivals but really what we have is ideal. That Canadian record will go down, by one or both of us!
I have most of my packing complete so will get the final things done before Friday. One more trip to the grocery store, a few more loads of laundry, 3 kids' suitcases to pack, a bit more housecleaning and I am done. D.O.N.E.
The moment Chuck picks me up to go to the airport will be such a mix of emotions.
I've never left my kids for so long (19 days). In fact, I don't think I've had one kid-free week away, since having kids.
And I am running the biggest race of my life (so far!).
But I know I am ready. Oh, so ready!

Backyard kale smoothie cheers.

Won't miss these surprises when away. Good thing I haven't used our warming drawer in a while!

Love these ladies. Maureen and Jeanetta are likely the #1 reason I've been this successful as a mom and runner. They have watched our kids at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre for hours and hours over the last 7.5 years. Each kid has gone since only a few weeks old. Thank you!

Enjoyed my first day off in a month with a haircut and coffee. Well, several coffees to be honest.

Thankful for my sister in law's pool, 5 doors down.

Lovely summer weather enjoyed in the backyard.

Thanks for the tremendous support, Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre friends! I took a picture with my phone so that I can look at this while in Russia.

And thanks for a great article, Sean!

Silly putty on cushions. Nope, not unless it's Lanni!

Eat well. Sleep well. Train well. Recover well. Repeat.

Just a few tune-ups and I'm off! Thanks, Paul.