Here We Go

I can’t believe in less than twelve hours this will all be over.  All the training, the hard work, the preparation has led to right here.  And I have to say, I’m not where I thought I would be mentally, physically or emotionally.  Aside from the issues leading up to today, our A/C is broken at home.  It’s been hovering around 80 inside the house for the last two days, making sleep miserable.  This makes me worry about getting a good night’s sleep, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  A storm came through a bit ago and cooled things off a couple of degrees (actually three degrees – woohoo!).  Let’s hope Pete doesn’t decide to sleep ON me again tonight.

I don’t feel nervous, which I suppose is normal. The nerves usually start in the morning while eating breakfast, and then on the drive downtown.  I have all of my clothes set out for tomorrow.  It’s weird to not have an outer layer that I shed right before the race and then put on immediately after.  It’s also weird to set out sunscreen (don’t worry – I’m not using the 15 SPF.  The 50 is in the car.  This is just a reminder).  I’m proud to be running in a Back on My Feet shirt (and possibly hat if the thunderstorm forecast holds true).  I’m proud to be running with the names of everyone who donated on the back of my shirt.  I’m proud to have such awesome friends and family who helped me raise over $1,800.00 for BoMF.  (By the way, it’s not too late to donate – I’ll add you name in the morning!)  In that regard, this is already a PR.

I’m still worried about the heat and humidity.  Right now the forecast calls for temps of about 66 at the start and 76 by 10 am.  I ran at 5:45 this morning, and the humidity had already set in.  I’m also concerned about thunderstorms, not because I don’t want to run in the rain.  Well, I don’t REALLY want to run in the rain, but I don’t mind it.  In fact, I think it would be welcome tomorrow.  What I am concerned about is lightning.  I don’t want the race to be called!   I want to cross the finish and get my medal.

My pace is going to be dictated by the weather.  My hamstring is much improved, although not 100% yet.  During this morning’s (very) easy run, it hardly bothered me at all.  I hope that the same is true tomorrow.  I’ve got a pace band sitting in front of me, but I’m still not sure whether I’m going to use it.  I’m afraid if I put it on, I will push myself to try for that time – against better judgment.  I think it will be race-time decision.

I spent the evening working up my new playlist.  I’m pretty excited about it.  It’s taken me a few races to get the hang of proper music selection, and more importantly, proper music placement.  My first race, I loaded so many songs that I had four hours’ worth of music!  I know it was my first, but it did not take me that long.  By the time I finished loading the music, I was too tired to organize the songs.  The next race I was more careful.   I put the songs that help me kick it into gear at 15-20 minutes before I expected to finish.  It worked out beautifully.  Last year I ran without music.  That was a huge mistake, mainly because I learned that the music helps to pace me.  I can’t wait to put the headphones in and just run tomorrow.

Believe it or not, I’m glad that I got up at 5 this morning, because I’m starting to feel pretty tired.  I hope to sleep like Pete and Maggie tonight (ie, nuclear war may or may not wake them up).  Usually I toss and turn the night before, afraid that I will sleep through my alarm.

Good luck to everyone else running tomorrow.  Look for the race recap before the end of the weekend.  I’m off to dream of overcast skies and swift feet.