Last Minute Pre-Race Thoughts

During my junior year in highschool, I was notorious amongst my friends for faking the flu every time we had an AP Physics exam. I have no idea why my teacher let me get away with that, but usually I'd be able to take my "sick" day and cram enough to muster a passing grade the next day. With the big race (SF Nike Women's Half Marathon) being only 4 days away, I'm starting to feel that same desperate need to postpone and last minute cram. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way for an organized race. On the other hand, I've still managed to cram my last bit of training into this past month.

My original goal for this race, was a finishing time of 2:30 or under. Considering that the average runner finishes a half marathon in under 2 hours, it didn't seem like a tall order. However, my fastest half-marathon time so far has been 2:50, so in regards to my ability this was a stretch. Over the last couple of weeks (approximately 17 miles every weekend), I can't say that my pace has greatly improved. So I'm adjusting my time goal to just beat my best time, 2:50. Even though I've trained more this time around than I have with the last two half-marathons, I'm still feeling nervous, un-prepared, and mildly discouraged. I know it's not the positive inspiration that you'd usually expect from me pre-race, but I'm somewhat doubtful of my abilities after my last 11-mile long run last Sunday.

After the first three miles, I couldn't maintain a steady pace anymore and resorted to running brutal intervals for the rest of the run. And since I'm not used to running intervals for such a long distance, I was left dreadfully exhausted with extreme muscle soreness. To top it all off, around mile 5 I was passed by a very sprite and healthy old man who was.....walking....with a cane! It doesn't engender the most self-confidence, but at least I managed to shave off 20 minutes off my best 10-mile time since I was sprinting.

In any case, I'm going through the exercise of creating a list of running tips to get me through the race. This is definitely more for my benefit, but I hope that some of these points are useful for all you fellow racing procrastinators. As for me, I'll be mentally scrolling through this mantra during the race.

Surfrunner's Last Minute Race Tips:

1. Back Straight, Head High. - Believe it or not, having good posture is good running form. You won't be as sore, and you won't tire as quickly. It also encourages you to properly breathe through your diaphragm, like a singer, which will lend more efficiency to your breath.
2. Break the Distance into Chunks. - Everyone has heard of the philosophy to break a large task into little ones to complete, so the whole job doesn't seem overwhelming. That's definitely an idea which applies to running long distance. Personally, I like to break the race into 4 three-mile runs with some change, because I'm comfortable with a three-mile run. After a while, I'll begin to think "Hey, that last run wasn't so bad. I'm game for another".
3. Pick Visual End Points. - This kind of goes hand in hand with the last point. It's my mind-over-body exercise. When I start to feel my legs burning, I'll pick a spot far ahead of me to run to, before I stop for a walk break. It can be anything, like a tree, a lamp post, or even a moving person. Although, I don't choose a moving target unless I've got enough steam in the engine.
4. Feed Off the Crowd Energy. - I'm not the only crazy person to wake up at an ungodly hour to run an insane distance. There are 20,000 (at least in this race) other people who are just as nuts and happy to be doing it. I can literally feel their energy as they warm-up or pass me by. Don't let that energy go to waste and try to transfer the feeling of that camaraderie to your legs. It even works for the annoying little highschool students who stand on the sidelines to cheer you on. Granted, they are always erroneously yelling "Keep going!! This is the LAST HILL!", which it never is. So, I'll inevitably want to transfer their energy to smacking their earnest little heads. But, maybe I'll feel differently this time around.
5. Enjoy the Scenery. - Racing shouldn't be a chore, it's just a glorious end to the last few months of culminated hard training. So, take a moment to revel in the hard work. Pay attention to the race course, because it's beautiful and you don't always get a chance to run like this through closed streets every day.

Ok everyone, wish me luck! As my pudding buddy says, "You can't do anything more than your best". You're right dude. I'll try to remember that. And who knows,..maybe if I keep up the training/racing, I might end up as agile and healthy as the old man with the cane.