Race day is tomorrow!

I'm three parts super excited and one part kind of nervous, but this race is going to be fun.

There's a new course that supposedly cuts out a few of the hills from last year, although I think it still ends with a nasty uphill. Not nice race directors!

The weather is looking pretty good: mid-50s at the start creeping up to the mid-60s by the time I'll finish. The only thing I'm nervous about is the 75% humidity. But still so much nicer than last year, when it was i the mid-70's at the start.

And three of my friends are running this race too!

Do you all remember Tracy from when I ran the NFL 5K back in the fall?

Well this is her first half marathon! Tracy's an accountant and she wanted a challenge to keep her active during busy season, so she decided to train for a half marathon. I have no idea how she did it. I struggle to get my runs in working a normal workweek. She works a million hours during tax season and has no weekends. Seriously I am amazed at her dedication to training and so, so excited for her to race tomorrow.

I'm also excited to catch up with my speedster friend Zach from high school and my friend Ashleigh from UMD who's in grad school in Florida now. She'll probably be loving the cool temperatures on race morning after training in the Florida heat.



Aside from the very social aspect of this race, I'm looking forward to having a strong run.

I know my last couple of weeks of training haven't been the best because of my shoe drama, but that's all straightened out now, and while I missed a couple key runs, I still feel fairly confident going in to this race.

Goals:

Pretty Sure It Can Happen Goal: Finish with a faster time than I did in New Orleans, a race I went into slightly under trained. For folks keeping score at home, that would be break 2:10. Last year I finished this course in 2:12 so I definitely feel I can shave two minutes off my course time.

Middle Reach Goal: Set a new PR. My current PR is 2:07:45 set on a very flat course on a very hot day. We'll see how I do on a fairly hilly course in ideal weather, but I'm come tomorrow I'll have a new PR.

Big Reach Goal: Break two hours. This is obviously a huge reach goal for me this year and I'm just not sure tomorrow is the day this is going to happen. I'm not even really gunning for a sub-two hour finish until the fall, but if the cards fall into place tomorrow and I'm feeling good and can push it hard, then I'll do it.

I'm still debating if I want to line up with the two hour pace group at the start and see if I can hang with them for the race. I'd love someone to push me, but I'm nervous about the pace group going out to fast and then I'll crash and burn at the finish. For now, I think my plan is to just run my own race.

I can't wait for tomorrow to get here, but until then I'll be busy sucking down Gatorade and feasting on carbs!