DUNT, DUNT, DUUUUUN….race week well upon us! At this point I am ready to just DO IT! I am quite frankly tired of feeling anxious about it! This past weekend I had a phenomenal time at the Ragnar Relay with 11 of my new BFFs running from Copper Mountain to Snowmass. The scenery and comradery was unprecedented and is helping me to carry me through this week with an eerie calmness. I am reflecting on what a great time I had, rather than being nervous about what lies ahead.

This week I have been trying to figure out my race strategy, am I going to go all out Saturday and just show up Sunday, am I going to go out relaxed on Saturday and save some energy for Sunday, am I going to just show up Saturday and go all out Sunday…only to keep going back to what the Poppa Marmot himself said to me, “You’ll know what to do when you get out there.” And that’s all the more complicated my strategy needs to be! Less thinking, more doing…story of my life! I KNOW that I can do this so I need to eradicate any thoughts indicating otherwise from my mind. I am really going to work hard to come into the races with gratitude; gratitude for the journey (physically and mentally) that have lead me the starting line; gratitude for the overwhelming support I have received from family, friends and strangers alike; and most of all gratitude for the opportunity to be able to do what I love. If I can keep my focus on those things hopefully the burning in my ass cheeks, calf muscles, and lungs won’t seem so bad…right?

At this point I have to trust my physical training. It is what it is. Nothing is going to drastically change in the next few days. But my mental state is something that could make or break the whole weekend. I’m feeling like my mental game is strong right now…but I also understand I need to proceed with caution. The body believes what the mind tells it, mind over matter and all the jazz….the struggle is TOTALLY real! I am going to work really hard to be PRESENT…and not to worry about training I did or didn’t do, what I ate for dinner last night, how much the ice bath I’m going to take is going to suck, how the top three miles will be, how sore I am going to be in the morning…blah, blah. Blah. I am going to focus on the ‘right here, right now’ and if need to stray from that, it will only be to visualize something POSITIVE ahead, like how awesome that hamburger in face in a few hours will be!

I am thankful for this opportunity to represent PikesPeakSports.us with such an awesome group of athletes! I am so excited to run with them this weekend and swap war stories when its all said and done! I want to also give a shout out to all the past Marmots for offering up your support and infinite wisdom too! AND, a special thanks to Colorado Running Company and Mountain Equipment Recyclers, without them there would be no Mighty Marmots!

LET’S DO THIS!!!