Game Plan

I'm so ready to race! I have almost everything planned and pulled together. We're expecting cooler weather overnight so tomorrow morning will be cooler than it has been in the past week or two. It's probably perfect weather for a lot of runners (and it's good for me, too, except I might have some trouble with my fingers at that temperature)- at race time it'll be about 48-50 degrees with a NNE wind of 10mph (perfect for the course because the back half is running south and slightly downhill). I feel like I should get a certificate in meteorology the way I've been checking the weather this week. I realize that I'm spoiled because we have pretty decent weather in Texas compared to the rest of the country, but of course I'm hoping for 55 degrees, very little wind, and no rain. Weather looks like it'll be fine, if not great. I have 2 outfits picked out and will decide when I walk outside just after my 5am wake up tomorrow morning. I'm wearing a skirt. No. Matter. What. But depending on how really cold I feel I'll either wear a sleeveless shirt (with a throwaway jacket) or a long sleeve shirt. I'm leaning toward the sleeveless/jacket combo. It's easier to get rid of the jacket and I'm not taking off the l/s shirt to run in my sports bra.

I decided to run the first part of the race with my Amphpod hydration belt. It's what I'm most comfortable with since I used it on every long run in training. I plan to hydrate well over the first half of the course when my pace will be at it's slowest because when I see family around mile 6(ish) I'm going to hand off the belt. From there I'll take a little 8oz Ozarka bottle with a sport top. I can easily drink from that and toss it when I finish it or get tired of holding it. Maybe I'll get 2 of those along the course and hit one water station toward the end of the course. That should cover hydration. I'll eat my orange blossom Honey Stinger chews for energy.

My goal time is under 2:10. I plan to accomplish that by starting with the 2:15 pace group. The pace leader who I talked to at the expo said they will consistently hit 10:18 splits. That's a pretty comfortable race pace for me but I think it'll keep me from running too fast in the beginning and having my splits drop off at the end. My plan is to stick with them until around mile 6, then pick up my pace to about 9:36, which is still sustainable for the last 6-7 miles. I figure by that point I'll know how strong I feel for the back half of the race. If I feel stronger, I'll run faster.

I spent most of the afternoon sitting on my hiney resting my legs and plan to continue that until my early bedtime.