I went to the Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Sports and Fitness Expo today. For those of you unfamiliar with the marathon, the expo is the place where you have to go to pick up your race number and t-shirt, and by the way, while you're there, maybe someone can sell you stuff. There were three aisles like the one in the photo above, with shoe dealers, chiropractors, running clubs, and all sorts of stuff. I love the expo. It's just fun. Lots and lots of junk that I don't need, and lots and lots of runners.
This is Tom Perri, who will be leading the 4:30 marathon group. He seems like a nice guy. He's from the Twin Cities, and mentions in his bio that he has tickets for all the major sports, so I had to get him to promise that he wouldn't try to lose me somewhere just because I was wearing my Packers headband. I guess I'll get to know him pretty well tomorrow, if we're going to be running together for four and a half hours.
I just liked this sign.
I'm nervous. I don't remember being this nervous before the Quad Cities Marathon last year. I don't know whether it's because I want to do better than just finish. At the very least, I want to beat my Quad Cities time of 4:51. I would really like to hit 4:30. We'll see.
Maybe I'm nervous because the whole family is here. At the Quad Cities, I went down by myself, stayed in a hotel, and went out by myself in the morning. Today, Mrs. Jogger and all the Little Joggers are here. Tomorrow, I'll be going up with the Photographer Friend and the oldest and newest Little Jogger, and Mrs. J and Grandma Jogger and the other LJ's are going to come up to see the end of the race. If I run a crappy race, they'll all be standing around, waiting for me to finish.
Well, there's not much more I can do to prepare at this point. I'll just go out there, and run the best that I can.
2 comments:
Sorry I missed you at the Expo. It looks like fantastic weather for the run tomorrow. Last year you had a ton more heat than this year. About the nervousness, I felt the same way before QC. Just start slow, work your way through mile 8 or 9 where you cross the Interstate. Enjoy the scenery and after that your real hills are done.
This is a very pretty race, and the course support should be very evident. The run through Ashworth park is pretty serene a lot like Arsenal Island (mile 16-18), and then you hit the 3m and 2m loops of water works park and Gray's Lake. I love the drum corps that they put there last year. Just take each of those loops or circles in mental chunks (with 1 mile in between). Then it's just 2 miles to the finish.
Good luck, and I'll be around your starting group. I am confident you'll do fine.
Anyone who can run across the country in a year and a half, should be able to run a mere 26.2 miles. Best of luck.
Grandma J.
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