I guess this will be my last blog post before I get on a school bus tomorrow at 7:00am and head out to Hopkinton. Blogging before the marathon was recently added to my weekend checklist, so I'm trying to squeeze it in before dinner. I've checked off quite a few things on my growing to-do list, but there are still a few things that remain unchecked. I got a new pair of shorts and some energy chews on Friday, I did laundry and cleaned Saturday morning, I got my family checked into the hotel yesterday afternoon and packed up the car with a bunch of winter clothes and things that they're taking home for me, I sent out a thank you email to my donors last night, and today I got my bib number and some marathon paraphernalia. One disadvantage of waiting until the last minute is that every store is now sold out of mediums in almost everything. I guess there aren't a lot of marathon runners that wear XL's (go figure). I'm in the market for the marathon jacket so if anyone sees one in a medium let me know! Actually, while I realize that there is a downside to procrastinating, I'm going to go get my stuff ready for tomorrow right now just in case I need to go out and buy something that I forgot.
Okay, I think I have everything--one more thing checked off the list (I'll double-check it later tonight). A piece of advice that I received from more than a few people was to write my name on my shirt or my arm so spectators could cheer for me. I still need to do that, but I think I'll wait for tomorrow to see what the weather is like (if I go with short sleeves, I'll just write it on my arm I think). I also need to make a quick trip to the grocery store to get some fruit for breakfast and I need to make my playlist--which brings me to my plan for tomorrow (or lack thereof).
I'm definitely going to take my phone so I can get my splits without doing any calculations and so people can follow me live with RunKeeper. That reminds me...I wanted to get a new armband. You'd think armbands were one-size-fits-all, but that's not the case. I always find myself hiking up my arm band a few miles into a run, and I discovered the other day that I bought an XL...oops. Considering I haven't lifted since college, my biceps probably aren't XLs. Maybe I'll grow into it, but if I can find a smaller size for tomorrow I think I'll do that (the to-do list just got bigger).
I really got sidetracked on armbands, huh? Anyways, back to my lack of a plan. I'm undecided on whether I want to listen to music. I think I may for the first half of the marathon where the crowds are sparse, but after Natick/ Wellesley I think I'd rather listen to the crowds and take in the whole experience. I also don't know what my plan is as far as pace goes. To hit my 4 hour goal I have to average just under 9:10 min/mile. Every 10 seconds off my pace will add/subtract about 4.5 minutes off of my total time. The hardest thing about the Boston Marathon is that it's downhill or flat for the first 16 miles, giving you a false sense of comfort and then you start a series of hills with Heartbreak Hill coming at the 20 mile mark. I think I'll just see how I feel in the morning and reevaluate during the race. As my avid readers know, I'm not much of a planner anyway!
I'm going to go check a few more things off of my list, eat a lot of pasta, and try to get a good night's sleep. I'll check back in after the marathon to let you know how it went!
