Marathon Training

My girls are getting excited for next weekend when they get to be with just Grammy and Grampy at the camp while Mommy and Daddy run a marathon. I'm starting to get excited about the night without kids but a little anxious about the run. The extended forecast looks like lots of 80-degree weather and I don't like running in the heat, though the girls would love it for swimming in the lake.

I know that I've trained well, I feel good, and I'll try to stay calm over the next week. My husband passed along 4 Tips from Active.com about preparing for your marathon day and the week leading up to it. I liked them. Here they are:

-Go With What the Day Brings – Don’t worry about the weather as you can't control it

-Don’t Try Anything New – Like drinking tons of water or eating different foods

-Review Your Log – Recognize that you’ve put in the time and now fuel and rest

-Have a Mental Plan for Race Day – "Training is 90 percent physical and 10 percent mental and race day is the opposite." Keep your mind in the race and have some power words to keep you going.

A more complete description of these tips is available on the active.com website , and naturally the tips work for shorter races, too.

Woods Walk

The girls and I took to the nearby woods to explore today given that the skies were changing from rain to sunshine about every five minutes. The leaves are just coming out and the bright green from the forest shoots to tree tops was amazing.

The girls found a fallen tree for us to use as a bench for snack time. We brought along a few candies from Easter and the sun actually made its way through the trees for a few minutes. It felt like we were very far away with no houses in sight when really we were just a stone's throw away from the neighborhood.

I was reminded of the magic of exploring the woods and paths behind my house as a kid as well as my husband's comment that he loves New England for its' thousand shades of green.