Next Time I Post Something Here, I'll Officially Be A Half-Marathoner!

While lying awake last night, unable to sleep, it occurred to me that if I wanted to get to the race at 6:30 Saturday morning, I was going to have to leave my house at 4:30. That means setting the alarm for 4 am. The insanely early wakeup in itself didn't bother me that much, but what was creeping me out was the thought of driving two hours, by myself, in the dark, in the wee hours of the morning, on unfamiliar secondary highways.

So I made a last-minute decision to surprise Mom with the news that I'd be heading down there tonight so that I can "sleep in" until 5am tomorrow (woohoo!) and have only an hour-long drive that will all be on well-lit interstate highways. I still have to drive in the dark by myself, but at least it'll be in familiar territory.

Now I have to scramble a bit to get my stuff together, though, as I was planning on doing some of that tonight after the boys were in bed.

Right now I'm putting together my playlist. Headphones are discouraged, but not banned outright, so I'm going to go ahead and use mine. I always keep my music low enough that I can hear what's going on around me, and I really prefer to run with music, so if I can, I'm going to.

The weather looks pretty close to perfect. They're forecasting temps in the 60s, dry, and sunny. I'm planning on a tank top and shorts - I know if I dress any warmer than that, I'll end up overheated once I've gone a few miles.

I'm not really nervous. Just excited. Excited that I am actually able to do this race that, a few months ago, seemed like it was out of the realm of possibility. Excited just to be in a race again and get to pin that number to my shirt and line up at the start with the crowds.

I am not going into this with any time goals at all. No, that's not accurate. My goal is to take at LEAST 2 and a half hours to complete the race, and my motto is "You can't go too slow."  I'm planning on doing run/walk intervals for at least the first 9 or 10 miles. If everything is feeling good at that point, I'll run the final 3 or 4. If not, I'll continue with run/walk.

I'm very glad this is my first half, and that I'm not trying to set a new PR - it's nice to go into a race with my only goal being to enjoy myself and enjoy the fact that I am out on a beautiful fall day sharing a nice long run with a couple thousand others. What's not to enjoy about that? 

Comments

[Shawn]

Definately enjoy the race and good luck. I look forward to the race report!

[Javamom]

Good luck!! I can't wait to hear how it goes!! YAY!!!!!!!!

[SpecialMommyTeacher]

I'll keep my fingers crossed... thinking of you... sending good vibes your way!

[Chad in the AZ Desert]

Drive safe, and have a great race!