Reflections of a Citizen Runner

In less than a week, I will toe the line at the 2015 Berlin Marathon. As I reflect on my training and how ready I feel for the race, I'm a little uncertain. I blame that partially on what I call the taper crazies, in which I feel like I'm totally out of shape from not running as much in the past week (tapering), when really, cutting back is just a necessity of being well rested and recovered for race day.When comparing my planned running schedule for this season to what actually went down, there were quite a few differences. I had aspirations of upping my weekly mileage in comparison to previous seasons, but in various shapes and forms, life got in the way. One day I fell hard while running out on the trails and went home limping and crying (and taking a few days off to take care of my hurt knee). Another week I got a terrible stomach bug and spent the night in the hospital. One weekend I simply had no way to run while on a festival run with my band (Three Coasts, Three Festivals, Three Days).On the flip side, I did a good job of adapting and focusing on the important things like quality long runs and workouts. Despite some missed runs, I actually still ended up running at a higher volume most weeks compared to last year. Greg, my coach, suggested that maybe I'm actually at my best when I'm improvising on a crazy schedule. Overall I feel healthy and fit. My marathon goal pace felt very comfortable in a recent workout. I have two years of uninterrupted, injury-free training under my belt. These are the things I keep telling myself.In terms of my goals, for this race and beyond, I so often think of what I want to achieve in the form of personal records, placing among the top women, or achieving a qualifying mark for a race like Boston, New York, or, you know.. theolympictrials. These types of goals will always motivate me, but I've come to this sort of realization that I don't have to take myself SO seriously. Yes, I'm coming to this conclusion now, 10+ years into my recreational running career. I always, always want to get the very best out of myself, but going forward I would like to enjoy it a little more on the way. Maybe as I'm running along the streets of Berlin I can think, "How cool is it that I'm doing this?" vs. "Ugh, three seconds slow on that last km!" I think it's okay throw a bit of wonder in the mix with drive and competition. On that note, I give you my goals:A - 2:55B - Better my PR of 2:59:22C - Have fun!