Pep Talk

Ok it's race week. And I am a lot more nervous then I thought I would be. It's pretty much all I think about - "6 days from now, I'll have run a half marathon." "3 days from now, I will be able to say that I  ran a half marathon." And even though it hasn't happened yet, I am blogging about my half marathon. Because I want to remember how stressed I have been about this, because I want to look back on this and remember how I felt pre race. Because I am going to do this again. Yes, I haven't done it yet and I am already positive I will do this again. I haven't registered for one yet, because I am hoping next summer I will be pregnant and not able to run a half marathon, but I WILL be doing this again.

I have been asking EVERYONE and their mother about advice for the race. What to eat, when to eat it, what to wear, etc. And although a lot of the information is the same, there are subtle differences that have me stressed. For example, I have heard from a lot of people about the importance of carb loading the night before. And I don't like that idea. I don't want to eat a crap load of bad food BEFORE I burn it off! I have worked too hard to train for this to eat bad stuff. Once I am done, I am going to eat the crappiest thing in the world. Not sure what it will be, right now I am thinking a trip to JCW's for an avocado bacon cheeseburger with thick cut steak fries and a peanut butter shake. Regardless of what we eat, peanut butter WILL be involved. Anyway, back to food to eat BEFORE the race. I haven't done any carb loading leading up to this, through my practices or anything. So why would I do it now? But I haven't done a full 13.1 miles yet. And for that reason, I am going to do a carb load. To a point. Not going crazy. Not an all you can eat Olive Garden feeding frenzy. We are going to have spaghetti at home, and I am going to eat more than normal. Not an entire package of noodles haha. But more than normal. And yes they'll be whole wheat noodles. If I change up from my "normal" too much I KNOW my body will make me pay for it the next day and that's the LAST thing I need is to be sick race day!

Brynne & I need to be at University Mall at 5:30 AM Saturday. Which means I am waking up at 4:45 ish. Yeah. On a Saturday. Shoot me now. That is SO early. And the race doesn't start until 9 AM. And it's been REALLY cold lately, so I am worried that we are going to be freezing waiting for the race to start. Once we go, I know we will be fine. I just want to be able to stay warm leading up to the race. We are wearing Wal Mart version of Under Armour long sleeve shirts under neath t shirts with Mario or Luigi on them {I'm Mario, she's Luigi} with spandexy workout pants and cadet hats with ear muffs and white gloves. And mustaches. Those will be legit. But won't keep us warm haha. The pre race area up the canyon has a big tent that can hold lots of people, which is why we are wanting to get up there right at 5:30 instead of 6:30 {the latest runners can arrive}. So yeah, there is ANOTHER thing I am stressed about. Next half will be one during the summer. Like June. May would be perfect. This October thing might kill me - it snowed this morning in the valley. So how is it going to be up the canyon?! The weather is SUPPOSED to be clear and warmer {I want to say I heard around 50 degrees} but we'll see!!

Mentally, I am getting scared. As much as I don't want to be scared, I know I am. What if I twist my ankle and can't finish? How am I going to tell everyone that I failed at doing this? What if I get a really bad Charlie horse again {like I did when I did my 10.7 practice run} and end up having to walk most of the race? I am pretty sure I will end up walking part of it, but I'd like to be able to jog most of it. I want to be able to REALLY do this. I have worked SO hard for this! And I want to do it right! And that's where all my wonderful Chalene Johnson quotes will come in. During TurboFire, she is CONSTANTLY saying things to keep you going - stuff like "I believe in you!", "Guess what - you're not tired!", "Effort now means results later", "Tell yourself you can do this - tell yourself you got your second wind". I know that telling myself that works. I KNOW it does, because I do it in Turbo every single day. Chalene is going to get me through this half!

But mostly, I am so excited. I can not WAIT to feel that adrenaline rush of knowing I did this. Of knowing that I ran a half marathon. A HALF MARATHON! That's 13.1 miles in case you weren't counting. I will be able to say that I went from 292 pounds to a half marathon runner. BOOM BABY!! That is LEGIT!! And please please don't take that as me not being humble. I am just incredibly proud of myself at the thought of doing this. I can't imagine how I am going to feel when I have really done it. 2 more days and I will find out how awesome it feels to say that I have done a half marathon!!

My goal time is 2:30. That's around an 11 minute mile. That would be REALLY pushing myself. But race day energy is a little different than regular running day and I will be running with Brynne and she REALLY pushes me. But not matter how long it takes, 13.1 miles is still 13.1 miles. No matter how slow I am going, I am going to be proud of myself for accomplishing this.

I am not going to give up during this race, no matter how bad I hurt or how cold I am or whatever. It's not an option. I can do this. I KNOW I can do this. No matter how bad it hurts, that feeling of knowing I did it will be SO worth it. And so will the peanut butter shake from JCW's haha.

Next time I write on my blog, I will have run 13.1 miles in the 2012 Provo, UT Halloween Half Marathon. AHHH I can't believe it's only 2 days away!! Can't wait to cross this off of my Crazy Cool  list... {click here to read my post about that - it's a list of goals I want to accomplish before the end of next summer}.

PS My Fitbit broke {more like exploded} 2 weeks ago and my replacement should be here ANYDAY - literally. I REALLY hope it comes in time for the race - I want to see how many steps I took and how many calories I burned!!!