This is the final week before the half marathon and my thoughts and feelings are all over the place! I feel a major surge deep within…kind of like I’m already at the start line just waiting to bolt off! (Which, by the way, I won’t be doing any kind of “bolting off” whatsoever. I plan on taking it slow and steady then entire 13.1 miles!)
This week I finally get my “easy” week in regards to training. I’ve pretty much been taking it easy anyway since my 12 miler a few Saturday’s ago, due to scheduling conflicts, kid schedules, and a weekend trip out of state to Texas, but this week it’s an official take-it-easy week. I have a 3-mile run today (Monday), a 3-mile run on Wednesday, and get this…a 2-mile WALK on Thursday. That’s it!!! I’m not sure I can handle just doing a 2 mile WALK, but I’m proud I’ve made it through the 10 weeks of training, so I’m going to enjoy the walk anyway.
This week I also start carb loading and cutting out all junk food, which I haven’t REALLY been eating during these last 10 weeks anyway. I’m purposely forgetting about the three scoops of raw cookie dough I gorged on this weekend and nearly had my head in the toilet throwing up over. My body was NOT happy with all that sugar! Gag!
Anyway, I’ll be choosing foods this week such as cereal, pancakes, potatoes, rice, and breads, (who would complain about THAT) along with a good amount of fruit and fruit juice. Starting on Wednesday or Thursday I will start drinking my G2 to keep my electrolytes at top level so I’m all maxed out by Sunday. I will attempt to get my best nights sleep on Friday night, because I know I’ll hardly get any sleep at all come Saturday night.
My husband and I are driving to Chicago but we still haven’t decided if we’re leaving Friday (hopeful) or Saturday. His work schedule may prevent us from leaving on Friday, which would leave us departing super early on Saturday morning. It’s still doable (a 9 hour drive) as long as we can make to the mandatory health and fitness Expo by 6pm Saturday to pick up my race packet and running bib. The Chicago half marathon does not allow ANYONE to pick up your race packet for you, under ANY circumstances and they do NOT allow you to get your race packet the day OF the race, so if you miss out on the Expo, essentially you’re screwed. I find this highly annoying that they don’t allow you to get the packet the morning of. *Grumble* Registration was $110.00 for this race, add in the cost of gas for getting up there and home again, add in splitting a hotel in downtown Chicago, plus parking and oh yeah, eating and that equals a lot of cash. I’ll be damned if I let ANYTHING stop me now, I’ve come too far!
Even though my husband isn’t running the race with me, his support and him being there FOR me is a true gift in and of itself. While I’m running, I’m sure he’ll be moseying around downtown snapping all kinds of amazing photos. I’m excited that he gets to be there with me and gets the chance to “site see” a little bit while waiting for me. I already can’t wait to see him at the finish line! I hope he has a pocket of tissue ready for me, as I’m sure I’ll be a crying mess at the end.
Also, one of the best parts about this whole trip is I get to FINALLY meet a friend of mine, Julie, that I’ve “known” for almost 15 years but have never met! We started out in our early 20’s (cough! cough!) being pen pal, if you can believe it. You know…before the days of text messaging and emails; real letters in the mail. We wrote back and forth and kept in touch all these years. Then technology came dancing by and we were able to keep in touch via email. Then a few years ago, Facebook happened and here we are! We have a lot in common, are both Virgos (that should explain a lot right there) and unfortunately both our mother’s passed away from breast cancer. This race is benefiting the American Cancer Society so this is BIG for us, and probably very emotional. So here we are, about to do our first half marathon together and meet for the first time! I can’t wait to see her after all these years.
The race starts at 6:30am, that’s gun time anyway. It’ll probably take us at least 20-30 minutes to make our way up to the start line from our corral. With 25,000 runners, it’s not like we can all start right at the same time…can you say MESS?! We figure we’ll start around 7am and finish by 10am. We gave ourselves a generous estimated time of 3 hours. I plan on fully enjoying this experience, NOT worrying one bit about my time. I can’t wait to run in downtown Chicago, and along the water. I can’t wait to hear all the bands and enjoy the finish line concert (Five For Fighting!!!). This is truly going to be an amazing experience, I can already feel it.
The nerves have started to set in and I’m getting giddy! I can’t believe I did it! I can’t believe I’m days away from the biggest goal I have ever set for myself: running 13.1 miles! I can’t believe I’ve trained 10 weeks, pushed myself beyond limits I would have never imagine pushing myself though. I can’t believe how much I’ve pounded the pavement and accomplished running all those miles and just how far I’ve come. I started training and within a few short weeks, lost a precious baby and had to have major surgery. I only took a week off and jumped right back into training. What? I really did this? I sure did and I’m giving myself a huge well-deserved pat on the back for it.
I don’t care what place I come in at, because…I’ve already won!
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