Island Nectar Roctane, Singlet is ready, Long run confidence + COMPLETE day off! :)

Just when I thought GU had plenty of amazing flavors to choose from, they added another for a limited time only! Island Nectar Roctane :) yummm...I was thoroughly excited when my package of Island Nectar, Mint Chocolate and Vanilla Gingerbread arrived last week! The Island Nectar tastes so yummy..a mix of tropical flavors that taste fresh and make me feel like I'm actually in Hawaii :) If you love GU, I promise you'll be happy if you quickly order a pack before they are gone!

Last night I finished up getting all my sponsors on my singlet. I still needed to get the Triple Sports logo on my singlet because I've been wearing their visor in races yet haven't had their logo screened yet. I am out of time to actually get it done before I leave for NYC, so I went to their store and Kara and I picked out a Headsweats hat with their logo embroidered on it. I cut it out of the hat yesterday and I fit in on the upper right of the singlet so I'm happy I didn't have to put it on the back or on my skirt! I put a photo of it up here and it's ready to go..I may sew on a small GU logo on the front since I only have it on the back right now, and possibly an American flag patch. I also have a little Scottish Terrier patch that I may add as well, so I can think of them the entire 26.2 :)

My pre-race long run simulation went really well today! I started by acting as if yesterday were a pre-race day. I did my run and drills in my typical early morning hours and proceeded to shower, eat and relax all day :) I did some paperwork to be ready for tax time next year, checked email, watched TV and made some fresh homemade dog treats for my boys. Later on I took them for a walk (more like a sled dog race!) and then ate my dinner early like I usually do before a race. I got to bed by about 8:30 and I think I fell asleep around 9. I woke up at 4:30 this morning and immediately made my rice with honey and coffee. I drank about 10 oz of my GU Raspberry brew and then started to dress like I would for the race. Of course I didn't wear arm warmers, gloves or a headband like I may need in NYC, but everything else was exactly how I'll dress for the race.

I got out the door right around 6 a.m. with only a tiny bit of light coming into the sky. I opted for NO music on this run (first time ever for a long run), to really focus as if it were a race. I got started off on a great clip feeling totally relaxed and eventually I got in a groove. I started at 6:49 and quickly got down to the 6:40's, 6:30's and then two at 6:20, with my final few from 6:15 down to 5:54 :) My average pace for the 22 miles was 6:30. I'm happy with the run and feel VERY confident for NYC now. My legs feel totally fine and overall my body, breathing and everything didn't feel like I was "going to the well" so to speak. :)

I took an ice bath, made homemade french toast and now I'll relax until I do my core/ST later today. I'm EXTREMELY excited for tomorrow because it's my first day completely OFF from doing any sort of working out at all, in many many weeks! I'm going to sleep in as long as I can...although my body may wake me up pretty early since I'm so used to it. However I'll spend the day laying around, resting and enjoying a complete recovery day! woo hoo :) This past week was right around 93 miles and this week I'll take it down a notch to 70...let the gradual taper begin baby...

I'm working on a mental "list" of everything I'm excited for with the pre-race stuff, race stuff and post-race FUN..so I'll post that in the next week or so...It's going to be pretty funny :)

Quote for today (inspired by my mom's words to me): "Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve."- Mary Kay Ash

Pics: front and back of my racing top + my boys with it...they thought it was for tug-of-war but then stopped biting at it and modeled with it for me ;)