50 Miler Eve

Well, I'm as trained as I'm going to get, my bags are packed, my Garmins are both charging (yes, I'm bringing two, thanks to my sister for loaning hers to the cause), and the 50 miler is happening tomorrow, ready or not. 

A friend reminded me after my last blog post that this was something I've been training for for quite a while, and that I actually signed up for because I wanted to do, so I should really stop acting like I'm headed to a death march (my words, his were much nicer).

Luckily I have a foolproof plan that saves me whenever I'm being a whiny little bitch - I think of everyone that can't run, or even walk, and while they may still call me crazy for trying to run 50 miles, I try to be thankful that it's even an option for me. In particular, I always focus on my grandmother, who is the picture of determination in the face of adversity. She got me through quite a few rough miles at the Marine Corps Marathon.

So, with that in mind, my goal today is working on getting excited for this race. I forgot to mention in my last post that I do have one goal: To have fun! Sounds cheesy and ridiculous, and most likely impossible at many points, but I want to at least enjoy as much of it as I can.

Things that are helping me with my goal:

• Pajama day (today): Not directly related, but fantastic. Tell me you are not reading this and wishing you could go to work in your pajamas all day.
• Breaking Dawn: Things may get rough in this race, but it can't be worse than ending your honeymoon early because a vampire spawn trying to kill you from inside your body.
• Cheez-Its: I banned myself from them in college, because I'd buy them and eat half the box in the car on the way home (I know, it sounds like a Biggest Loser application tidbit) so I haven't had any since 2005, at the latest. They will be providing me race fuel at mile 23 tomorrow.

Things that are not helping me with my goal:

• This excerpt from an email I received yesterday. By the way, the distance is closer to 51.5 miles, just so you know

Uhhh....what? I didn't sign on for that. I think Victoria's tweet probably summed up the appropriate reaction.

@AlyssaLindsey Right because it is completely reasonable to run 50 miles but not 51.5

Ok, I see the point, but think of the last race you ran - did you want to do the distance you signed up for, or did you want to do 1.5 miles more than that? I'm guessing that at mile 50, 1.5 miles isn't going to feel like 1.5 miles on an average run.

But, whether I liked it or not, last night I had a 51.5 mile race to prepare for. Of course, being me, I had made a spreadsheet last weekend that detailed what to put in each drop bag, in my camelbak, in my bag for before and after, and with Eric. While boiling potatoes, I diligently crossed off each item, but it was confusing, even so.

Can you see the spreadsheet?

Drop bags and camelbak

I changed the batteries on everything battery powered, whether it was needed or not

Packing took awhile, but I still think nothing is worse than packing for a triathlon.


And that's it, until you hopefully hear from me on Sunday! I may be tweeting, or I may ask my husband to tweet for me, but if you are interested (who wouldn't be?), hurry up and request to follow me, because my tweets are protected, and once I leave for Breaking Dawn, I'm pretty much done with the internet until after the race!


Thank you so much to everyone who has left so many wonderful encouraging comments, I'll try not to let you down!