Less than 1 week!

It is less than a week to my half marathon. How did that happen? When I started training for this in November it seemed very very far away. Now all of the sudden the time has arrived! I get sick every time I think about it. Actually, I was doing great until I went to the event website and saw they had posted a map. The hill on it looks downright scary and it is the most confusing map I've ever seen. Since it is highly likely I will be in last place and well behind other runners I feel certain I am going to get lost. If you are interested in the crazy map click here.

Pretty much all I can think about right now is my race. Well, and being completely and totally exhausted after running 87 miles last month. If you are an experienced runner reading this, I realize 87 miles in a month isn't a lot for most runners. For me it is huge! Every run has been getting worse and worse lately to the point where I was walking way too much. I messaged someone on a forum I'm on that has run a couple of half marathons and has one the day after mine. I told her what was going on and she helped me come up with a plan to taper the last two weeks and have my body ready to run on race day. I was so thankful as I seem to be doing much better. Today was my long run of the week and was supposed to be 6 miles (originally I wanted to do 8 but it just wasn't happening). When we  took Ryan to baseball practice I ran to the park and ran around and through it. I ended up only running 5 miles, but it was a really great 5 miles. It was a confidence building run. I had no problems and it was very windy and very hilly. The fact that I did it proved to me that I can still run!

The only bad part of my run was stomache cramps the first couple of miles. I keep reading about energy gels and people keep telling me I should try them. I've also heard they can cause some GI issues, so I knew race day was NOT the time to try them out. Today was the day. I drank(ate?) it about 15 minutes before my run as the directions instructed me. The texture was not great but the taste was fine. I had run about a quarter of a mile when cramps started. All I could think was that I was going to have to make an emergency stop in the bathroom but I perservered! The cramps stopped after a while. I think I really did have more energy. The cramps weren't bad enough to make me not use it again, so it looks like I'll be using some on race day.

This coming week I only have two 3 mile runs scheduled before Saturday. I should be nice and rested.

Friday afternoon I will be heading to Tulsa with Rick and the boys to pick up my race packet. I can't wait! Then we are eating at Zio's (my favorite restaraunt) and staying overnight somewhere. Perharps I should get on that. My Mom and Alan will be joining us and watching my race. I'm really happy they are coming. I have worked so hard and I love that I get to share this experience with a bunch of people who love me.

I probably won't post again before the race. Be thinking about me!! And if you have any spare happy thoughts on Saturday the race starts at 7:30 am. That's right Mom. I may have neglected to mention you will have to get up really early if you want to be there at the start. As slow as I am though you could probably sleep until noon and still catch the end!

~Mel