Race weekend

The pumpkins are ready, and so am I.  Time to get my game face on.  It's race weekend!

We're spending the weekend in Niagara.  The Niagara International Marathon starts in the U.S., and ends in Canada at the falls.  Every marathon participant must preregister with their passports Saturday afternoon, then the race commences at 9 a.m Sunday morning.  I hope Dan and I will be finished running sometime between 1 and 2 pm; that's somewhere between the four and five hour mark of running, but ultimately, the goal is to finish!!!

If you want to know how I'm feeling about it, I'm experiencing mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I know I've completed my training; I've run strong, and felt good many days.  On the other hand, I've also had runs where I've struggled for one reason or another.  Those days sit heavy in the pit of my stomach - a churning dread.  The best I can hope for is a 'good running day', as Dan and I call them.  We always check in with each other after a training run.  

"How was your run, babe - good?"

Often, the response is, "Yeah, it felt good."  Sometimes the response is, "Terrible, now get out of the way, I have to use the bathroom!"  or the blasé, "It was okay."  where you weren't particularly proud of your performance.  

The hope on race day is to peak, to feel your best.  That's a lot to hope for.  The last race I ran, which was a half marathon just over a year ago, I hit a personal best.  I came in just five to ten minutes after Dan did, which put me in the higher top half of my age group.  Despite the forty degree heat, maybe in spite of it, I had my best race pace.  I didn't even know it until after I was done.

Now, there are two of us.  Dan and I are planning to run together.  I've never run a race with someone else before, that I wasn't trying to beat.  Dan and I are good for each other, in life, and out on the pavement, but I do believe he could run this race faster without me.  Whether he would want to or not, is a different question, but regardless, I'm happy he'll be by my side.  We'll see what happens when we get to those final few hundred meters!!!

Keep us - and all the runners - in your thoughts, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!