Pre-race Jitters

Nick and I are leaving the kids with grandma and Nick and I are going to have some much needed alone time. We are so grateful. Time alone is few and far between these days. This is huge. I've never left my kids overnight, except Ladybug once in Wisconsin in December of '07 thanks to some very thoughtful relatives. Green Eyes has yet to be left overnight.

I've totally got the pre-race jitters. I usually don't get them, but with our unusual training schedule (i.e. infrequent, erratic, sometimes non-existent running schedule)... I'm just a little bit nervous about completing it well. Sure, I can complete it, but can I complete it well? As Nick said, I just need to focus on myself and not worry what others are doing and it will be a good experience.

On the Biggest Loser the other day the contestants did a half-marathon challenge. I think the top time was 2:25 or something. That's a pace of 11 minutes/mile. That's not at all unreasonable for me and the old me would have kicked that. BUT, as I haven't been able to train as well as I'd have liked (you may recall the 90 minutes on the elliptical on Monday). Realistically it may be more like 12 minute miles. That's about what we run right now with the kids in tow but it's hard to say how much the hills and kids slow us down here. This course is as flat (i.e. EASY) as they get and should help keep our speed up. :) The weather is looking beautiful, a sunny 60 degree high. That's pretty much pefect.

One factor that I'm hoping isn't an issue is wind. Being on the beach, coastal winds could prove to be a potential obstacle. Let's hope it's a calm day.