2 days to half marathon

So much running, so little time to blog!

School started and so did soccer for my son. I'm the coach so there goes one afternoon, soccer is mostly at 2pm so there goes another whole day! Ok, enough of that, onto the running which is my reason for the blog!

Since it has been almost three weeks my major update has to be that I managed to complete the entire training program and all that is left is the half-marathon! I have been feeling for weeks that I will not be able to make my goal of a 2:00 marathon. Most of my long runs are like 10:20-10:40 minutes/mile. I can run faster, but I tire out quicker - no big surprise, right? My friend is encouraging me, saying that the taper-down at the end of the program will help and I should be able to run 30 seconds faster easy. I dunno, I certainly don't feel like it - I am at the point where my mind may be my worst enemy. Which would be different - I am an optimist, and i'm confident in my running ability. For some reason running faster than what I settled into for my long runs is harder. Maybe it is just because I am racking up more miles weekly than ever before.

I keep going back and forth on whether I should set my goal lower, or start slow and finish faster, or try to stick to one pace. I suppose I am going to go by feel on the day of the race. It looks like it will be cold and rainy - not bad running weather! My pace for 2:00 should be 9:09 minutes/mile - I managed to do a few runs at that pace, 3 or 5 miles and even faster for a 2 miler this past Wednesday.

Since this is my blog and relates to my health challenges - here is the latest. My MS is doing good, losing weight and getting fitter have been everything I've hoped  they would be - I just feel great most of the time, and not suffering any fatigue. My spasticity and parasthesia have been firmly under control, no balance problems, no vision problems with intense exercise - remember, when I didn't know I had MS I couldn't play soccer at times because my eyes felt like they were crossed. That, thankfully, was resolved in the first steroid treatment.

On top of the MS I have another concern that is back up on my radar. Since birth I have had a heart defect - a bicuspid aortic valve. So where normally there are three 'leaflets' closing the heart valve and preventing blood from leaking back in, I only have two. So there is a gap and a leak - the heart murmer I've had since childhood. Now, as a good parent who realizes he has to take care of himself - now more than ever. I have been seeing my cardiologist yearly. But this most recent year he was concerned. The valve diameter has increased from 4.7 to 5.0 cm. This is caused by an aneurysm, which is thinning of the walls of the heart. What the hell! I met my quota of medical conditions, no more please! He is not concerned, just wants me back in 3 months, no need to change my exercise patterns...

Hoping for a good run on Sunday, and that I will surprise myself. I have to remember to be happy to finish either way, it is 13.1 miles after all!

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