Girl In Motion

Yep, it’s getting down to it, the Philadelphia Distance Run is tomorrow and I’m nervous!  Because it was the first Half I ever did, it’s a goal race for me, but also, it’s an important indicator for my Steamtown goal pace.  So I have a lot riding on this one.

I’ve had an easy last three days running-wise, yesterday was off completely and today was 4 w/6 strides.  There were so many runners in the park this morning plus assorted folks putting up tents and barricades, the mass of porta-pottys are already up and there’s a general feeling of excitement in the air.

Now I’m back home and the task for the afternoon is meatballs.  I had to back out of a forum FE tonight because Nick’s coming back from Portland late this afternoon, so I’m making spaghetti and meatballs for a romantic, carb-loaded homecoming.  He won’t be at the race tomorrow, instead going with our friends Jeff and Lara on a big cycling event, so we’ll both be in athletic heaven for the day.

Besides missing the forum dinner, I’m also electing not to meet up with anyone before the race starts (I’m sorry Matt!!).  After last year, when I waited in the porta-potty line for about 25 minutes, then the gun went off while I was waiting there, barely getting myself into the corral in time, I’d rather stay at home as long as I can (I live very close to the start of the race) and pee in my own bathroom, then just slide into the corral and go.  “Focus” is the name of the game for me tomorrow.

The weather looks fine - sunny and 56-59 at the start, around 67-68ish when I’m done.  I’m wearing a pace band with two sets of numbers on it, just in case.  As far as other accessories, I’m carrying two gel packets instead of a flask because I want to wear my skirt and the waistband isn’t strong enough to hold a flask up.  I’ll also be wearing my chosen marathon shoes instead of the speedier Elixirs.  I’m trading the couple ounces I’d lose for fresher cushioning, the better for after-race recovery, since Steamtown remains the most important consideration here.

My two aims for the race (besides getting a good time) are to deal with gels and waterstops in a calm manner, and also, if there’s a clog of people in front of me, not to panic, but to realize that by slowing down, I’m harboring energy to speed up when I need to.  I remember my silly self from last year, because of those “eek, I can’t get through” moments, I stupidly ended up running all over the place (tangents? what are they??).  Live and learn.

So that’s it from Pre-Race Day Central.  I’ll be back here afterwards and give you all the dirty details.  Wish me the best, please.  Over and out.

Tags: race goals, races

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.