LAST TEAM TRAINING AND TAPER WEEK!: Hi Everyone! We are officially finished with our Team training and are in full taper mode this week as we prepare for the marathon. Here's pic of our race day shirts from our 20 miler. The back of mine will have ribbons with your names- as soon as I sew them on!


As many of you know, tapering is a traditional part of race preparation. Giving the body enough training, and then enough rest can maximize performance on race day by giving the body the training it needs and then time to recover and replenish. It sounds nice, but it can be difficult for runners who have gotten used to the training schedule. It can also be difficult mentally, as one starts to wonder if they will remember how to run or whether they will lose skill from a week of rest.

This is when the mental part of training has to overcome the body's messages. Instead of training on the road, you can use this time to start preparing mentally, getting organized for the race and in using focus to prepare the brain for what lies ahead. Good tips include visualization- taking some time every day to picture yourself on the course and how you will be handling different sections of the race, meditation and breathing, and preparing for the logistics of the race before race day arrives. Knowing that you have everything in order gives peace of mind, especially the couple of days before the race! It is also a good week to schedule some gentle massage. :) And maybe one after the race!

Here is a tip sheet for what to think of to bring to any race:

• Your running clothes and race numbers: Make sure to pin this to your singlet before race day and try it out by swinging the arms around! It will help avoid problems in having to repin once you are in the race! If you are not sure of the weather, bring a change of clothes, one for each possibility.


• If the weather is chilly, a garbage bag or throwaway sweatshirt/pants for prerace. The Boston Marathon is great in that charities collect this prerace gear as you come through the runners corrals. If you use the garbage bag, you can punch out holes for the arms after using the same bag as a seating tarp for pre-race waits.


• Money and essentials: It is good to know that you have that extra little bit in case you fall into an emergency and are in between aid stations! For extra essentials, dont forget: anti-chafing lubricants, bandaids, any medications you need, sunscreen,sunglasses (if needed), gels or carb supplements, liquids and pre-race food.

Luckily, we are having fun thinking about race day, what the run will mean for us and for the people we are running for, and about the people who have been so supportive to us so far. We are excited to be joined again by Jacques Chanier at the 15 mile mark, and will look forward to seeing friends on the course. I will make one more post about race day and tracking. Thanks to everyone for all you've done- buying coffee, donating, attending our party, writing your encouragement and cheering for us through this training season. Thanks for helping us to continue raising money to further cancer research and to care for people who are going through these diseases. Best, Marie