Friday, June 11, 2010

Countdown: 1 Day

My race is tomorrow.  I've never ran a race before, at least an organized official one.  I had always hoped to build up to a marathon by starting with a 5K, 10K, half marathon and then hopefully full.  I have started training for a half marathon twice, one of the times I didn't get further than 2 weeks and the other I should be finishing tomorrow. 

I originally started training to help lose the baby weight and then it turned into something a bit more.  I learned I could push myself and see results.  That the human body is an amazing thing.  In school I minored in two things: Child Development and Exercise Science.  I know what the body is capable of, I know down to the molecular level what it does during exercise and how to condition your body to certain degrees.  But to learn is one thing and to experience is another.

The biggest struggle lately has been dealing with my feet.  My Chiropractor adjusted them today (did you know you can adjust feet?!).  And they feel better. Weird.  That's what I'm most nervous about.  Is having to stop running because of my feet when I feel good enough to keep going, cardiovascular wise. 

Tomorrow morning at 6 I'll wake up, eat a nice big starchy breakfast, get dressed, brush my teeth, put my hair up, tack on my number and head out the door.  My goal is to finish below 3 hours, but what I would really like - considering everything goes well is to finish in under 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I haven't taken any ergogenic aids (gels, energy bars, gummy bears, Gatorade, etc.) while running before so I'm hoping those will help and give me enough of a boost to keep a steady pace.  I also hope I don't need to pee more than once since the clock doesn't stop for potty breaks.

5 comments:

Ashley Outnumbered said...

Good Luck Whit!

You'll do great.

Can't wait to hear your results.

You should be so proud of yourself!

Mary said...

You'll do great. I had the foot problem after 10 miles. I had to walk a bit. It was sad because I wasn't really tired. This is my advice. Drink the water, not the pop, if it is offered. Let yourself walk the water station if you need to. We ate some gummy things, but we did it too late. I prefer a liquid boost. Do it before you feel like slowing down, so it has time to kick in. I want to do another one because I know I can beat my time. Wendy and I did it after 2 weeks of training and only doing 6 miles, not without stopping, the week before.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, good luck!! You will do great!!

The Calderwood's said...

Good luck tomorrow! You are gonna do awesome and it will all be worth it when you see Jaren and Naomi waiting for you at the finish line :)

Michelle said...

I've been training for my first 5k and my feet and knees had a lot of issues starting out. Hubs is a DO and does all the bone adjusting and he's done a few adjustments on my feet. lol. It's amazing the difference it makes. Good luck with your race tomorrow. :)