L.B. Half Marathon eve

I say “Marathon eve” in reference to “Christmas eve” because, to me, they are much the same. When I was a kid, on Christmas eve, I found it close to impossible to sleep. I would lie awake in bed trying everything to fall asleep, but I was so excited for the events of the morning that the adrenaline in my body would barely allow it. So it is now, at 9:12 p.m. when I should be asleep since I have to get up at 5:00 am, that I sit here typing into my computer. I am very tired and should be able to fall asleep right away. But, I know how it goes and the minute my head hits the pillow, I will start to think about the race.

I LOVE RACES!

The fun starts the day before the race. The expo. The place where you pick up your race bib, timing chip and your t-shirt. The race coordinator usually requires you to pick these things up at the expo so you are forced to be exposed to all of the sponsors, or vendors, at the race. It makes perfect sense. I don’t mind in the least. I love gadgets and all things that have to do with the sport of running and triathlon. So I really enjoy the expo. After the expo we usually “Carb Load”. It doesn’t matter what the distance of the race is, we still “Carb Load”. Basically it has become a ritual to go out for a nice dinner the night before the race. We usually order some sort of pasta and always top it off with dessert. If you eat healthy the majority of the time, it is good to cheat once in awhile. And what better time then on “race eve”.

Brittany and I are running the half marathon tomorrow. 13.1 miles. It is my favorite distance. My fastest time for the half was in January in Phoenix. I ran it in 1:56:06. It was 1 month before my Marathon so I was putting in a lot of miles. Since I am training for the Ironman, I have more hours logged but not as many running miles. So, it will be interesting to see how I do. I would love to do 1:50:00.

Brittany ran a 2:30 back in February. She has logged a ton of miles in preparation for her marathon in February, so, I am looking for her to PR for sure!

My Dad is doing the bike tour. He has been riding consistently for the last month or so and has gotten up to :45 minutes per training session. The bike course is the same as the full marathon course for a total of 26.2 miles. It will be his longest ride so far. He is really looking forward to it and I know he is going to have a blast. My parents foster daughter Jasel is running her first 5k and is also very excited. She did a 6:50 minute mile in training the other day, not bad! We’’l see how she does with her pacing and the 5k distance.

I am so happy that our family is getting into fitness and racing. The rest of the family is coming out to watch and cheer us on. I have a feeling that as time goes on there will be more of us participating and less of us spectating. This stuff is contagious.

Well, I’m off to bed. Hopefully to sleep.

Paul