Yeah, I went there. Enjoy.
Anywhoo… holy crap. I will be running my first half marathon in two days. Wow. It feels totally surreal. I laid out my A-B-C goals in my last post, so today I thought I’d share a little bit about my overall plan for Sunday. I’ve made a packing list and checked it twice, so hopefully I won’t forget anything on the day.
Fuel: I’ve decided to use Gu. Other than the first flavor I tried (Vanilla), I have experienced no GI side-effects. This was also the fuel that gave me the most noticeable pick-up/extra energy of the 3 types of fuel I tried. Happily, I finally found Salted Caramel Gu at my local Fleet Feet, so I’m ready to go! I plan to eat them at miles 4 and 8, and mile 12 if I need a little help at the end. I will also have Nuun in both the bottles of my hydration belt, so I can get my electrolytes on the go, and still get plain water at the water stations.
Gear:
- iFitness 16 oz hydration belt
- Watch
- Headphones
- iPhone (for GPS and music)
- Running Kit (stays with my checked gear or in the car)
Outfit:
- Nike Rival 4″ shorts
- Nike Dri-Fit tank
- Smart Wool Socks
- Panache sports bra
- Brooks Nightlife Running Hat
- Saucony Mirages
- Sunglasses
The Plan
Body Glide: Everywhere. Feet. Thighs. Bra strap and band. Under arms. Waist (where shorts sit). Hips (where built-in briefs sometimes dig in). The last thing I want is to feel like hell just because of chafing issues. Body Glide is my friend and I will use it liberally.
Start Slow and Remember Pacing: My biggest fear is going out too fast and running out of gas before the end–this is a huge problem for me. Most of my runs (long or short) have positive splits. I wish I had a Garmin, because I would like to maintain a really steady 11 min/mile pace for the first 3-4 miles, just to really find my groove, before picking it up to 10-10:30 for the bulk of the race. I REALLY would like to run the whole thing without walk breaks, but I may need to walk while drinking or fueling, so we’ll see.
Maintain a Positive Attitude: As I said in my Tigger post the other day, I know that if I stay positive and have a can-do attitude going into a run or race, I usually perform much better. I just need to make sure I don’t psych myself out.
Enjoy the Ride: This is just the first of what I hope will be many half marathons that I will run over the course of my lifetime, so there’s no need to worry too much about the numbers. No matter what, it’s a PR, which is awesome. And I can always improve.
In other news, the race director emailed all runners this morning stating that there was a last-minute change to the route, which eliminates “the toughest hills on the course” and went on to apologize because he knew we were all “really looking forward to them.” I can’t tell if he was joking or not. I, for one, am THRILLED to have less hills to contend with, especially considering that they never posted an elevation profile, so I didn’t know there WERE big hills. Oy.
Does anyone have any last minute advice for my first half marathon?
Wish me luck!
Darlin' Rae 