Three Things Thursday: On Blogging, The Home Stretch, and Good Friends

1. I haven't blogged in almost a week. It's not for lack of trying (or things to say) as I have 3 unfinished posts just sitting in my drafts. I just can't seem to finish them though, mostly because as I've gone back to read what I've written, they feel disjointed and now even out of date. Does that matter? Should I still push publish anyway? Maybe, but maybe not.

The more I've thought about it this week, I blog first and foremost for me. I've always found catharsis and clarity in writing down what I'm thinking, whether it's a more profound realization about something like confidence or an utterly mundane laundry list of training results, food or what I did over the weekend. I have journals upon journals saved from growing up that read much like my blog, with the only real difference that I had to make more of a targeted one-on-one effort to share what was written on those pages. I didn't really put it together until this week, but this blog is really nothing more than a modern-day version of the journal concept. Most of the time, the sharing is part of the fun and overall allure, both as it helps me and maybe inspires others. There are some times though where the simple act of writing it down is enough. This has been one of those weeks.

2. We've hit the point in marathon training where the primary focus is getting to the start line healthy. With just 4 weeks + 2 days to go (but who's counting?), we have only a few key workouts left. I can't believe it's gone so quickly! Despite the impending race day, I'm feeling calm and confident in my training. We've been smart, used the pace chart to keep us controlled, and are hitting the milestones necessary for a strong marathon performance without beating ourselves into the ground. Most importantly, my mindset has been so relaxed. I'm not really surprised that it's carried over from my Eugene and Richmond cycles, but it would seem as though I've taken yet another step further away from the head-case line. This was most clear to me when my brother-in-law remarked that he couldn't even tell that I was training for a marathon given my not-even-a-little-bit-stressed demeanor. I'll take that as a big win on the season.

3. This week has been especially nice with a few extra rest/easy days thrown in. I made the most of it by meeting up with some of my favorites for an early happy hour last night. The talk of course included plenty about training and racing, but it also ventured into more typical girly topics which was just as welcome. I met most of these girls through blogging and twitter initially, and am beyond thankful for that. I'm even more thankful though that the blogs and twitter could all disappear tomorrow, and nothing would change in real life. We probably need to work on our margarita drinking abilities though. At least it was an inexpensive evening!