Exactly one week from today, at exactly this time, I will be standing in corral 16 at the start line of my first marathon.
I’m about to lose my gord.
A few thoughts…
- I seriously think the people at weather.com are intentionally trying to screw with me. One day it shows an 80% chance of rain, the next day 0%. Come on, dudes. Not cool at all. (Sorry for the false alarm, Amanda!) They’ve pushed the rain up to Monday now.
- I ran my last “long” run yesterday. It was 9 miles, and it was the worst run I’ve had in a while. The wind beat the living crap out of me and I just felt really tired. Not surprising following Thanksgiving, but not a good confidence booster going into the final stretch.
- Everyone keeps telling me to trust my training. Well, I missed a lot of my training because of my knee, so that’s really not good advice for me. If I have to put my trust in that, I’m screwed. I’m better off putting my trust in my hard-headedness.
- I’m looking forward to meeting Julie, Amanda, and Mel!
- My bib number is 16272. Nothing about that number jumps out at me as being good luck. 627 used to be the first three numbers of my phone number, but that’s all I got.
- I’m bummed about the post-race concert. The headliner is Bret Michaels, and I was pretty stoked about seeing him. But I recently found out that I won’t get to. He will be on stage from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm, so IF I can finish in 5:15 I MIGHT get to see him walk offstage.
- This last pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 13s that I bought feel weird. I can’t place exactly what’s different about them, but something just seems off. I thought maybe it was just because they weren’t broke in good, but they’ve got about 50 miles on them now. I’ve run the last couple of weeks of training runs in them (but had to change out of them halfway through my 20-miler last week), but they won’t be coming to Vegas with me. I’ll be taking my last pair of MWR13s that have about 250 miles on them. I stick with what I know works.
- Speaking of sticking with what works, I’ve already scoped out Dominos Pizza locations. I’ve had my best long runs the morning after chowing down on their Pacific Veggie pizza. I will be having a private pizza party for one in my hotel room Saturday night while everyone else goes out. Hey, I might have to turn in early, but I’m not about to ruin everyone else’s fun! We’ll be in Vegas for Pete’s sake!
- I haven’t started packing yet, but I have my list of stuff to pack made out. I’m terrified I’m gonna forget something important.
- I’m putting the finishing touches on my playlist this weekend.
So here we go. Seven days and less than 10 miles are now all that stand between me and the start line. Ready or not…
herbie on the run 
This is so exciting! Pam is going to Vegas to run her first marathon! I wish it would of worked out where I could be there too:) Enjoy this last week and relax! The countdown begins!!!
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You're going to be great!! Have fun and rest up!
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Oh man, false alarm?! Thank goodness!!! I hope it stays that way!!
I can relate to all you are feeling! I am having some serous training doubts right now too. But it is true, trust your training. When I trained for my first marathon I had missed a lot of training runs too. But I had an awesome first marathon!! You will do great!!!
I look forward to see you soon!!
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Trust your hard-headedness!
Your pride and stubborness will get you through the marathon. 🙂
Will be thinking about you!
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Trust me, you felt bad not only b/c of the wind, but because you are tapering! You'll get to the start, and the finish, in great shape! And I completely relate to the weather obsessing!
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You are going to rock it! Don't worry about your bad 9 mile run!
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Good call on the shoes and the pizza! Stick with what works!
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I can't believe your marathon is almost here. I remember thinking your marathon date sounded so far off but suddenly it's here. You'll have a great time in Vegas – try not to freak out too much until the day gets here!
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Hey, I'm totally going to eat the pizza with you, well maybe not that particular one, but we are eating with you!!! I'm not going to go out and party, I have to cheer my buddy on the next day!! You're totally going to rock this!!
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OKAYYY, I don't like your attitude here, Pam! I know that this is a big and nerve-racking event, but what happens happens! It is what it is. 🙂 You are going to be awesome — just push all the negativity aside and ENJOYYYYYY!! You'll never have another first marathon and everything is going to go swimmingly — as long as you go with the flow. 🙂
Can't wait to hear how you rock the pants off of this trip. Enjoy every second.
xoxo,
A
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I wanna know what's on your playlist.
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SO exciting!!! I'm counting down the days with you!
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Soooo stoked for you! I'll be sending waves of good thoughts your way.
We had the same issue last year with the concert, ding dang!
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My 20 milers also took 5 hours to complete. 🙂
You're gonna kick ass!
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OK, here is my advice. Pack warm AND cold weather clothes and don't ditch your extra throw away duds too soon. The start goes out towards the Vegas sign and it will be all sunny and warm, but the Strip is completely in the shade because of the buildings.
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SO exciting! You're good to stick with what works. And I hate how they change shoes ever so slightly from one year to the next. I wish they would learn that runners are going to buy new ones whether they have new stuff in them or not and would just rather stick with what we're used to! Good luck! No matter what happens it will be amazing because it's your first!
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big, big, big mile stone for ya! can't wait for your race report telling us how well you did!!!!
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I'm so excited for you!!
Yes, I have gradually been working my way back to blonde. This is not the first time I thought I could be a brunette and quickly realized I feel like a stranger in my own body! I am at an in-between color right now that I can't stand.
Wishing you luck before you're big mary day!
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