Well, the time is nearly here. I went into Knoxville yesterday afternoon to pick up my race packet at Runner’s Market. Pickup time was set from 3pm to 7pm and I figured arriving close to 3pm would be best. I was 4th in line and waited about 10 minutes to pick up 3 packets (while I was there I picked up two other packets for my running buddies).
I haven’t run any since Wednesday’s 3 mile easy run. The only significant running I did was on Tuesday when I ran a 30 minute progression/tempo run. Even that was fairly easy. Considering I only ran at my anticipated race pace for 7 minutes, it should have been easy! It will certainly be a challenge to run that pace for all 13.1 miles but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
I had a few dreams last night that got my heart pumping for a few minutes. You know…I forgot this or that…finding a parking place….running late, etc. I know these things won’t happen but I guess my mind is trying to process things to better prepare me so it doesn’t happen.
Today I am focused on hydrating and eating fairly normally. I don’t want to change my diet too much and screw up my stomach. Speaking of stomach – I have always been concerned with bathroom needs in the middle of a race. Thankfully, I have not had to worry about it during a race, however, during training runs – the inevitable horrible stomach cramps have hit. My plan is to be “cleaned out” before bed tonight!!
With the focus on hydrating, I plan to wake up at least once to relieve the bladder sometime tonight and then try to get back to sleep. We will meet at 545 am to drive to the race. One of our running buddies will be at the start to help us with whatever we need.
Temperatures leading into the race should be in the mid 30s (we’ll arrive close to 7 am – race time is 8 am). I will have some cheap sweat pants and a couple layers of lighter jackets/sweatshirts and a running cap. Later I will change to a Nike running hat – once I’m warm. I will also shed the sweats and sweatshirts – to run in a short sleeve running shirt and shorts. Temps by race time will be in the upper 30s. Sun should peek out fairly quickly warming things up into the lower 40s by 9 am. I hope to be finished by 10 am so temperatures shouldn’t be too big of a deal. Winds will be light and then pick up by 10 am to 5-10 mph out of the southwest. That’s a good direction for the second half o the distance and should be negligible by the last mile along the river.
I’ve put in my time running and I hope to exceed my goal. I’ve been debating on running a
1:50 or less but I think I can pull off a 1:45 or very close – so I’m going to shoot for that. Here’s a look at my training leading up to the race. I’ve only ran 12 miles this week!!
I have lots of folks on my Garmin Live Track app that could be following my race near real-time. So that’s pretty exciting. My family won’t be there at the start but should make it by the time I finish. If not – no biggie. I imagine I’ll be feeling pretty wiped out by the end of the race. I will write up my thoughts and feelings on the entire race day. Stay tuned…
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