Nerves

     So as you could guess from the last couple of entries of the blog, I have been pretty nervous about this weeks long run.  I guess there are a few reasons for that.  #1, a 20 mile run will officially be the longest run I have ever done in my life.  Granted, I was able to do a 15 miler 2 weeks ago but 20 miles just seems pretty intimidating.  #2, this run is basically a walk through for the actual marathon.  Thanks to our running club, we are lucky enough to have an organized run that takes place over the first 20 miles of the actual course.  This means we get to become familiar with the lay of the land, the hills and get to know how it feels to run them when you are actually fatigued.   Now some people may think that this is a huge advantage ... being able to run the actual course.  Deep down inside though I feel as though it serves as a double edged sword.  On one hand, if you have a great run and absolutely kill the course it increases your confidence and morale going into the actual race.  On the other hand, however, if you totally bomb the run for some reason it is going to be a little bit unsettling with the big race only being 3 weeks away.  #3, I don't know how this IT Band / Bursitis is going to hold up.  At the current moment my knee feels great.  I don't have any pain or discomfort with walking or doing stairs.  I have to hope that I am as close to 100% as I can be for this run. 

   The good part about treating this run as a "walk through" means that I got to do everything as though it was the actual race weekend.  Yep, that means I even got to practice my carb loading!  Not sure what the night before meal is actually going to be at this point, but it will probably be chicken parm with spaghetti.  For this walk through though, I went with my favorite pasta dish (Chicken Bona Boca) from our local South Boston Italian place (Portobello's).   I am sure you can tell from the picture below why this is my favorite pasta dish. 
   Anyway, fingers crossed for this weekend.

Chicken Bona Boca from Portobello's in South Boston.  The meal that served as my carb loading the day before my 20 mile "walk through" of the Boston Marathon.