Finished!

I finished!  It went by really fast and I actually felt well prepared.  No muscle issues whatsoever.  I can’t believe it’s over!  Thank you to Ben for driving me to and from the race and running around to take pictures and Mark for coming out to support me. It was a great experience and I finished my first half in under 2 hours and 15 minutes! 

Race Morning

It’s about 4:45 am.  I got up before my alarm and actually had no problem falling asleep last night.  I was exhausted from being up so early, so that technique of going to bed early and waking up early all week seemed to work perfectly!I’m a little worried about the temp, still debating between running tights and shorts.  I will probably bring both to the race and make a last minute decision.It still hasn’t hit me that this is today, even after pinning my race number to my shirt.  I’m sure once I see the crowd in the parking lot and at the start line it will be hit me hard and the adrenaline will kick in. 

Expo

Spent a lot more time at the expo than I had anticipated.  I’m a sucker for vendors… I bought a new running shirt.  They had a (street view) video of the course.  Even thought I’ve seen the entire course, it was a little intimidating to watch the video.  The hill between Dupont and Adam’s Morgan will probably give me nightmares.  If I can make it to mile 8, I’m pretty confident I can finish.

Back to the expo, everyone there was really nice.  They even let me trade in my medium marathon tee for a small (I’m really bad picking out a tshirt size on a race form).  I got to hear the race director talk about the course a bit.  I was next to a girl being interviewed on NBC4, so you may see the side of my head on the 5 or 6 o’clock news.

It’s always fun to people watch at these things and check out the other runners.  Size them up!

I’ll try and write more tonight after dinner if I don’t have too many last minute things to take care of, just to give you an idea of how I’m holding up.

It’s Official…

24 Hours!

At this time tomorrow, I hope to somewhere around Adam’s Morgan.

I can’t believe it’s March 28!  I registered for this race back in July.  Where did the time go?!  Hopefully, the time was well spent training and preparing for tomorrow.

This morning I did an easy 20 minutes on the elliptical (no waiting for machines at the gym at 4:45 am).  I watched the opening of the 5 am news for the first time, probably ever.  The newscasters mentioned the marathon several times (making it more of a reality) and even said to visit the website to read runner’s blogs, yay!  (Thank you NBC4)

I’ve been drinking plenty of water this week and plan to continue that today.  I had some cereal this morning, will be enjoying a bagel mid-morning and will probably go with the traditional pasta dinner this evening.  Hopefully this will provide me plenty of fuel for the race (along with breakfast before the race).

Stretching and staying loose will also be a priority today.  Don’t want my calves cramping up at mile 4, yikes!

I’ll be headed to the expo around lunchtime today, so expect more updates this afternoon.

Shout-Outs

Not much to report today since it’s a rest day. I did a lot of stretching this morning and plan on doing a lot more over the next 36 or so hours. My calves have been my major issue recently, so I want to make sure they are nice and ready for the 13.1 miles on Saturday.

I think I ruined my homemade race day shirt in the laundry this morning, so don’t expect me to be wearing anything race specific anymore… oh well. I may take a picture and post it on the blog so you can see what I could have been wearing.

This morning there were a ton of mentions about the race on the news, so I’m getting really excited/anxious. However, it almost doesn’t feel real that I am going to run 13 miles, considering I could barely run one mile three years ago.

On that note, I want to thank a bunch of people who have supported me over the past few months during my training, encouraged me to run, gave me advice or just understood when running or sleeping needed to take a priority over being social. In no particular order, a big thanks to: Mom, Dad, Noah, Nate (and the entire Teiglach group), Coach, RL, JH, Mark, Bob, Stelz, and all my friends.

#3124

I almost enjoy waking up at 5 a.m.  I can lounge around, watch TV, eat breakfast, do laundry, clean… even do some class reading (okay, haven’t actually done that), all before running and getting ready for work.

This morning was my final training run, I actually got a little teary eyed when I began.  I had no expectations for this run, just wanted to get my legs moving.  Turns out it was one of my best runs ever (and without an ipod).  I got into a groove pretty quickly and while it was a hilly route, running felt like the easiest thing in the world.  I just hope I have the same feeling on Saturday.

Tomorrow my morning feature film will be the Kite Runner.  Anyone want to watch with me, say 5:15 a.m.? I’ll supply the pop corn.

Ready to Run

Today is probably the most ready I’ve been to run this race.  I have a lot going on at work and in my personal life and the best way for me to clear my mind is just to run.

I did my last speed work out this morning, as you know I hate the treadmill, so I’m glad that is done with.  I went to bed at 9:20 p.m. last night and got up at 5:35 a.m.  I’m aiming to be in bed around the same time this evening and up 15 minutes earlier.  I actually enjoy having the extra time in the mornings.  This morning before working out I was able to catch up on some TV shows.  One morning this week, I’m actually hoping to get laundry done.

Tomorrow will be my last outdoor run before the race.  I’m planning to take it pretty easy, probably 3 miles (with hills), but at a moderate to slow pace.

It’s funny that I was more nervous last week.  I’m feeling calm at the moment, which is odd for me… maybe it’s the calm before the storm.

Race Week

My newly appointed coach told me to start going to bed early and getting up early to prepare me for race day. Last night I was in bed at 9:30 p.m. (after an entertaining evening of basketball viewing with some friends). This morning I set my alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual. I’m going to push it 15 minutes earlier each day until the race. I’m figuring I will have my alarm go off at 4:15 a.m. race day (with time built in for snoozing). I need to be out of bed at 4:45 in order to eat breakfast, get dressed and be in the car by 5:30.

This morning’s run went well. I ran an extra hilly route after seeing the challenges I would face midway through the half marathon. I practiced my new hill techniques. I’m still a little worried about the Connecticut Ave. to Columbia Ave. hill that happens between miles 5 and 7. If anyone wants to come cheer me on in front of the Hilton, that is probably where I could use the most motivation.

I started to pack my race day bag. I know it’s a little early in the week, but as I think of things I may need, I just toss them in the bag. I will actually reassess everything I’m bringing the night before.

I think at this point I’m pretty sure I will not be bringing my ipod with me on the 13.1 mile journey. The ipod itself has been acting up and I don’t want to be carrying a dead ipod for 10 miles. Plus, the past few runs I’ve done without music and it hasn’t been so bad, add the crowd to that and I think I will manage.

As you can probably tell, I’m feeling pretty confident at this point in the week. I feel like I have a good handle on everything I need to do before Saturday morning. I’m just crossing my fingers I don’t get sick, I hear people around the office coughing… yikes!

Thank You Coach

With only one week to go, today was by far one of my most productive training days.  My coach (Ben) drove me through the second half of the course.  Then we parked at RFK and ran the first half of the course.  This was an eye opening experience.  At first, driving through the second part of the course, I was a bit freaked out because it seemed long (probably because of all the traffic lights, which won’t affect me next week).  Once we started running the course, I felt a lot better about what to expect next week.  The first couple of miles were pretty flat and got me warmed up for the hills that seem to dominate the middle section of the course.  My legs felt good after the run.  My coach also gave me some great advice about running hills.  I was pretty happy at the end of the run and felt like I could definitely do the whole thing next week, especially with a crowd.