How do you lose a week in one minute? By not using your brain. And that is exactly what happened to me on Sunday. I was talking about the upcoming plans for the weekends in April: figuring out long runs, fund raiders and social events. We have a party April 4th and I was thinking that was next weekend. Well, those of you that have calendars and are aware of how long it takes the earth to rotate, know that April 4th is this weekend.

Not a big deal, right? Wrong. That means I am four Sundays away from standing at the starting line of the Big Sur International Marathon. Excuse me while I go throw up in my mouth, just a little bit. OMG. It snuck up on me like a ton of bricks. And this is coming from someone who keeps a calendar training log and records everything I do. Did I not realize that I was on the last week of March on my Marvel Calendar? (yes, I am a giant kid and have a Marvel Heroes Calendar.)

No need to panic. My training is on pace. I logged a 20 miler at 3:38, right on pace for a sub 5-hour finish. I then logged a 22 miler at 4:17, a little slower than I would like, but the mileage is what counts. That means this weekend is my 24 miler. A huge test to see how I will fare in Big Sur. Then the taper. I’ll need to increase my cross training to burn off some anxiety during the taper, but need to be aware of not provoking an injury.

OK… I’m calm. I’ve been training and am ready to go. I just have to stay on course, ignore the little pains and chalk those up to end of training plan aches. Those wear off when you are moments away from finishing your 4th marathon. I said 2009 was going to me a huge year… Let’s make it happen.