Ready to Run.

Well, this is it. I guess I'm as ready as I am going to be.

Sounds pretty confident, huh? Haha.

I'm not sure why I am getting so nervous about this race. Maybe because it's the first one I have done since January. Since that one was awful (first trimester fatigue, no training and serious IT band problems), I really want this one to go well. I need to get my mind right for the rest of my marathon training.

My goal originally was to PR (2:09:32) which I totally think I could do with the beautiful weather conditions and new course. But now with this sudden achilles ache (it hurts when I press down with my big toe, wtf?) I am wondering if this will be possible. I guess I'm just going to run the first 6 miles and see how I feel. If I PR, I PR. If not, it's a great training run for the Philly Marathon and as long as I beat my last Half Marathon time (2:18:29) I'll be happy. I guess instead of a PR, my goal should be to stay healthy this time. Haha, stupid common sense!

So the weather is amazing outside. Right now the conditions for the start of the race look fantastic.



While it would be nice to be about 5-10 degrees cooler, this is still VERY cool for Miss. Former-Miami-Runner. I think I can totally handle this.

I have also decided that I am going to go with the cotton capris for the run. As long as the start is under 60 degrees, it's cool enough for me (I know I am a total wuss). However, my legs really don't get that warm. And my PT last year actually told me I should run in pants to keep my legs warmed up because they seemed to tighten up easily. Of course, then I was running in 85 degrees and 90% humidity at 4am and there was NO WAY that was going to happen. Anyway, I can deal with cotton better than I can deal with creepy shorts and jacked-up thighs right now (sorry for the visual).

So yesterday I thought I would try to get in a slow 4 miles if my achilles was feeling better, but alas, it was another day on the bike.



I did a nice, easy 16 miles to Wissahickon Park and back. And it was beautiful! A great day for a ride in the woods.

Today Jeremy and I rode the train downtown to pick up our gear for the race.



It was a decent expo with lots of great gear. There was a HUGE booth by One More Mile which I had to DRAG myself away from (You don't have a job, quit spending money, remember your SHOES!) It was hard because their stuff is hilarious. It was a toss-up between these two:





But I walked away empty-handed. Mainly because I had no money, but also because I had just bought a dry-fit long sleeved Philly Distance Run running shirt. LOL! Either way, I was proud of myself!

After that we headed to the Reading Terminal Market to grab some lunch (homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for me), pick up some gourmet pasta and salad stuff for dinner tonight as well as some dutch cherry cobbler for tomorrow night's dessert! YUM!





So the bib number for tomorrow is 12320 and there are live results posted on the Philadelphia Distance Run website. That way you can keep up with me, J and my achilles. BLASTED ACHILLES!

Now I'm off to ice, ibuprofen, rest, eat, take a warm bath (pre-race ritual) and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour. Good luck to all you other runners out there racing this weekend, especially N.D. who is running her first race "with child"! Haha! Good luck to you! Look for me, I'll be the one sweating my butt off in the dark blue, cotton running capris! LOL!