Let's do this

11 hours from now I'll be running a marathon. I feel like it's my first time. I started to type "it's been over 5 years since I've done anything like this" then I remembered feeling this same excitement/anxiety before the two centuries I rode 3 and 4 years ago. So it's really only been 3 years since I've done anything like this. And I've done endurance events (marathons, ultras, centuries) 10 times before. And lived through all of them. And enjoyed them all. So here I go again. Full of nerves. Dreading starting and wishing I was already running at the same time.

I know that I didn't train as well as I should've. Part laziness, part injury prevention. Whenever I felt injuries starting to flare up I dialed back my training. I did all my long runs, but didn't do nearly enough mid-distance runs. Since I spent 2 of those 5 years not running at all due to serious injuries, and have had ankle, knee and hip problems I thought it was the best plan.

I've also been eating Whole 30 for all but 2 days of the past 10 weeks. Figuring out how to fuel the long runs has been a continual experiment. Since it's supposed to be cold tomorrow I'm not so worried about fluids, and I'm not going to run with coconut water. I'll carry fruit chews and dates. And I'll get up early enough to eat before I hit the road for the hour drive to the suburbs and have a bar if I need to before I start. I have a bag of food packed to bring to eat on the drive home.

I'm going to run with the 5 hour (11:27) pace group. That feels slow when I run that pace on the treadmill, but I want to take it easy and hopefully run the whole time. I've never taken that approach to a race before. I'm usually more of the blindly-optimistic, I've run faster shorter distances so I'm going to go out at my best pace and burn myself out and suffer at the end kind of runner. Maybe this is the new mature me. This is my first marathon in the over 40 bracket. Maybe old me is smarter than younger me.

I anticipate being a mess at the start and finish lines. I'm a pretty unemotional person. Two things make me cry. Dogs, and people doing endurance events against the odds. And I think of myself in that second group. Fat kid who never did anything athletic, now with a reconstructed ankle who never thought she'd be able to do another marathon.

Lets do this.