The week leading up to any significant event tends to be a bad week for me. Physically there's nothing more I can do to prepare for this race (Mt. Evans Ascent) but I can certainly hurt it. I have to reign back my workouts, toning down the intensity and allowing myself the opportunity to rest and feed myself in preparation for the race coming up this Saturday. From this point on my struggles are almost purely mental. Sleepless nights have already started. The recurring dreams have started as well. You know, the ones where I'm late getting to the race for one reason or another. I typically wake with a start, feeling for just a moment that I'm actually late for the race. My mood tends to go south as well with even the littlest thing aggravating me. I'll admit I'm really not a pleasant person to be around. The waiting is what kills me. So much time to think and worry over what may or may not happen. I play out every conceivable scenario in my head and try to imagine how I'll respond to each. I know my path is set and there's no turning back. Like a pregnant woman who's within days of her due date, I just want this damn thing to be over. I know I'll be fine once the gun goes off and I settle into my game plan. Until then, I have days to wait. Days to let this churn in my stomach. Days to think and pray and to hopefully find some inner peace that will carry my through.
As a favor to you all and to myself, I won't talk much more about this until after the race. I'll leave you with this, my self-imposed challenge...
"Come back with your shield, or on it." - Spartan saying (Plutarch)
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