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Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Most Unprepared Half Marathoner...

So besides not training at all, I only figured out just a couple hours ago that I have to get up at like 4:30 am tomorrow to drive over to Malibu. The full marathon starts at 7 am and the half starts at 7:30.  The half marathon starting point is basically the half way point of the full one.  So everyone has to be parked at the finish line beach parking lot between 5:30-6:30, as the last shuttle taking people to the starting point will be leaving at 6:30.  And the parking lot itself is 2 miles long...!!!  So that means that if you arrive later, you will be parked 2 miles away from the shuttles pick up point - that really does not sound like fun to be warming up 2 miles before even starting the race.  Then afterwards have to walk 2 miles back to the car.  So I'm going to aim to arrive by 5:30ish to park as close as possible.  Then I have no idea what to do for 2 hours.  Nap in the car for a while?  It will be freezing, as the whole race is along the coast and it was very windy today as I was picking up my packet.  Sigh... what did I get myself into?  Note to self, next time pick a race that doesn't include driving through the canyon and coastal roads to get to, and has ample parking.

Anyway so after picking up the packets today, we drove through the course a little for the first time.  The last half of it is all hills, as I had known before by looking at the course map.  But the 2 longest and steepest hills are around mile 11 and 12.  I've never even ran past 8-10 miles in my life, I don't even know if my legs will hold up till mile 11 and 12, let alone going up a couple big hills??  Shit.



Here's a closer shot of the elevation - we will be starting in the middle and finish past the big hills:



Looks hellish.  If I pace myself, which I think 10 mph is my go-forever pace, I might be able to push through.  Under normal circumstances I actually like hills since I do a lot of hills training so that's where I can pass a lot of people.  So the only problem is will I have enough endurance to last until then.  We'll see I guess...

I just picked out my outfit.  


I think I will for sure wear my Passion Crop and Energy Bra, and most likely the teal zeal Inspire Pullover, but I could change my mind and go with my snorkel blue Ambition Pullover instead.  I don't know, I'm 95% set on the Inspire because it has a zipper in the front just in case I need some air.  I am also debating wearing a tank under, but I don't think I will since it will be below 50 degrees the whole time and I will not likely get hot enough to take off my pullover.

I have put about 6 miles on my new adiZero Adios 2 shoes, they haven't hurt my feet or anything so I think I will be good wearing them for the race.  So basically I will be wearing a bright green top and bright red shoes.  Nice.  

As we are waiting around for an hour until the race starts, I'm sure I will be cold so I will probably wear some Dance Studio pants over my Passion crops, and maybe a thick hoodie too.  I just found out today that they are giving out bags that we can store our stuff in before the race starts.  And they will transport them to the finish line for us.  That's pretty cool, I didn't know they were going to do this.  So now I won't be totally freezing as I wait.

Hmmm other than that, I hope they will have lots of water stations since I don't plan to bring anything with me.  The only thing I will have will be my iPhone which I totally didn't have time to create a play list for so it will be on shuffle.  I don't even know if I should eat something in the morning before the race.  I normally get cramps really badly if I eat within 2 hours of running.  But I also don't want to be starving.  I think I might bring some PB&J sandwiches or something just in case.  

I feel so unprepared!!!  A lot of people I know are running this race for some reason.  I think I will know like 20 people doing both the full marathon and the half.  I hope they don't all pass me by because that will be embarrassing...

5 comments:

  1. You'll be fine, and you'll look back and think it really wasn't that hard. Maybe consider using a more broken-in pair of shoes; the last thing you want to be is uncomfortable or injure yourself...just a suggestion though. Everyone is different and just listen to your body and you'll know what to do. Good luck and enjoy yourself!

    Love,
    Emily

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  2. Definitely try and eat something (doesn't have to be solids, a smoothie or a big thing of orange juice)! Also, I used to bring jelly beans with me for a burst of sugar energy before the last 2 miles ;o)

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  3. Hope you had a great race! Can't wait to hear all the details...
    Dawn :)

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