My last week of tapering prior to the Flying Pig marathon this coming Sunday has been a pretty unstable one .. it seems that earlier this week my heartburn and indigestion started to kick back up again like I had back before the Ocean Drive marathon last month, but thankfully it has gone away (as of now). I dealt with it for about 2 days (Sunday and Monday) and all I could think about was how terrible it made me feel the final week before the Ocean Drive marathon, and then ultimately helped me fall apart around mile 23 when my stomach just gave out on me. I’m not sure what is causing it to flair up like that, but taking Tums and staying away from certain kinds of foods helps, I just hope it doesn’t come back until after the race…

Just as that issue kind of cleared up late Monday, my allergies have decided to kick in due to the pollen and stuff in the air. When my sinuses flair up, it gives me the feeling that i’m catching a cold. My sinuses feel like they are a little stuffed up, but not so bad that I have headaches or that I need to blow my nose every 5 minutes, so I decided to put myself on the normal regimen when this happens of staying hydrated, using saline nasal spray and taking my antihistamine… hopefully it will stay away until after the race also.

The good part about this final taper week is that my legs are feeling rested and I have worked to catch up on my sleep .. the last few weeks have been rough as far as training is going as I hope to kick it up a notch. I was happy to get on the scale this past Monday and find that i’ve lost just over 4 pounds from a month ago, so this crosstraining and eating better is really working. I also don’t feel so bloated.. now that I start the carb load portion of the taper, that is liable to change, but at least I know going in I feel pretty good.

So the weather outlook for the weekend in Cincinnati is going to be warm … mid to upper 50’s for the start with a high in the low 80’s with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. I am a little concerned since i’m not used of running in such warm temperatures, a good hydration plan is going to be key as long as I can stick to it. I am going to push myself to try and finish the marathon in around 4 hours, which I think is achievable based on how my pace in my long runs recently. I’ve read about how hilly the Flying Pig course is from previous participants, but in looking at the elevation profile, it doesn’t appear to be much worse than Philly or Baltimore was last year, so i’m hopeful that won’t be an issue.

My goal now as I head into the last 72 hours before the race is to not obsess over these little issues … its easier said than done though. Oh well, i’m still getting psyched for the race regardless of how I feel, should be a great weekend!