Perfecting “The Playlist”

The last long run prior to Grandma’s Marathon was today. Okay, 8 miles isn’t “long” at all but if you have completed marathon training before you know that 8 is long when you are in the pre-race taper mode. I’ve been in running withdrawals these past couple of weeks. My running has been lacking the purpose that it has had for the past 5 1/2 months.

Today, however, I found the zone again. I ran with Passion and Focus; I ran for the joy of running. We started out at a nice comfortable pace and eased into the run. We ran with our iPods, which is not the usual when we run together. Cindy had a new Nano and was just experiencing how different running can be with the right music. We didn’t ignore eachother, but we weren’t talking much. It was more a run of sign language.

It was fine with me that miles 1-4 were around 9 minutes/mile. I was picking up speed and Cindy was along for the run. Just shy of mile 4, Let’s Get It Started began playing. I imagined that I was on the course, at mile 21-22, running up Lemon Drop Hill. In past marathons, I’ve been wiped by this point in the race. “Not this time”, I thought as I pushed hard and imagined the real challange beginning. Cindy was in a bit of shock as to what I was doing as she, reluctantly, tried to keep the pace. I explained later when she caught up to me.

There were other magic moments where I let the songs take me for a run. As I ran and listened to each song, I examined how the song affected me and thought about where along the course I would want to hear the song.

This is expecially true for the special music files that my son, DD, made for me of the encouraging voices of my family and friends. He did an *amazing* job with them.

Even though I won’t be “almost there”, Go Mom, Your Almost There (with YaYa’s sleepy and sweet voice) will play at mile 12 because that is YaYa’s Road. I will hear Tom’s voice, in Inspiration For Mom From Her Boys, around mile 16, Highway 61. Since Tom is a Bob DD fan, this location for this song seemed most fitting. I will hear Marian Again For Julie at Mile 20. I met Marian, at mile 20, while running the Napa Valley Marathon in 2005. Marian who, at age 57 years old, has run over 100 marathons is an inspiration to me.

With 6 days to go, I am trying to think everything through carefully as I gear up for this race, my 10th marathon. I am looking forward to an amazing experience that I will never forget. It’s *my* time to qualify to run the Boston Marathon!