The Countdown had begun: 39 Days 'ti Little Rock Marathon!

I should have started this yesterday, because it would have been cool to have a "40 Days 'Til Raceday" countdown, but alas I'm a bit slow on the draw so I'll have to content myself with only 39 days. But, YES! My first marathon is almost here! I think I've alluded to being a long-distance runner somewhere on this lil baby blog, but now you know the full extent of my craziness. Hello, my name is Kelli and I'm going to run 26.2 miles. All at once. For fun.

I've got to completely honest though, I'm a two-time marathon drop-out. It's sad but true. I was signed up for the full Little Rock Marathon last year, but my dear friend and running partner Sarah decided it was getting to be too much for us since we were just starting to dabble in the long-distance arena, so we dropped to the half - my second half marathon to run. THEN we were going to run the St. Jude's Memphis Marathon this December, but I had to drop out due to personal reasons, leaving poor Sarah to run it on her own, which therefore makes her my hero. However, they don't say "Third time's the charm" for no reason. I'm ready to go this time - physically AND mentally (and anyone who has ran a half or full marathon knows that it's just as much mental, if not more so, than physical)!!! I may have to crawl on my hands and knees the last mile but rain or shine by golly I'm going out there and FINISHING that entire marathon!

This weekend's big 18-miler is starting to loom up be before me. The bulk of the long distance run's prescribed by the training schedule we're using fall between 12 and 16 miles, but there are the two "biggies": 18 and 20. I know I can physically do it, but I'm mentally dreading it. There comes a time where adding extra miles isn't a big deal because your body becomes so used to the ordeal it just keeps going and going, but at some point you're hit with the monotony of it. THAT'S the part I'm dreading!

Best running fuel!

I'll be carrying one of two of these babies, as well as a Larabar, and I'll be testing out coconut water as a replacement for gatorade for the first time this weekend. Stay tuned for a future post on the alternatives I've found to "typical" runner fuel sources.