One month until the big race

The half-marathon is one month from today! My training is going really well (thus far I’ve avoided major injury and I’m right on schedule) but now I’m starting to think more about race day logistics. I of course want to be super prepared. Here are a few of the things that I’ve been thinking about (usually during a run actually) over the past week.

What am I going to wear during the race? My plan is to bring a wide selection of running clothing with me to Vancouver and make a final decision the night before the race. I want to be prepared for any weather.

What should I eat the morning of the race? I think I’ll bring instant oatmeal with me to the hotel and hope there’s a coffee maker to get hot water out of. I might eat a banana too but the fact of the matter is I’ll probably be too nervous to eat much and I really don’t want to cramp up because of a full stomach.

What will I do to warm up? Very little. I’m not going to waste a mile or two of running on warm up. I’ll need that mile during the race! I’ll try to keep my muscles warm but there will be no big warm up like before a 5km.

What pace am I going to run at? I’ve said many times that I don’t have a time goal for the race. I just want to finish. That being said I still need to decide what pace to aim for. There are a number of calculators on the web where you enter a previous shorter distance race time and it tells you what a reasonable half-marathon time would be. I’ve done this and all the half-marathon paces seem too quick! My current plan is to aim for 11:30 – 12 min/mile over the first half of the race and then go from there. It’s better to start slow and finish fast. Or maybe just start slow and finish slow!

What am I going to eat/drink during the race? I’ve got my favourite brand of gels selected so there’s my source of calories. My plan is to take in a gel at miles 5 and 10. I’ll probably just stick with water in terms of hydration but there will be sports drink available on course. I’m going to have to test out the brand of sports drink first though because I have a sensitive stomach while running.

How am I going to meet up with people after the race? OK this one has me stressed out. My sister is going to come cheer me on and my friend Leah is running the marathon. There’s talk that a few other people from Seattle might also come up so I imagine finding everyone after the marathon ends might be a little difficult.

What am I going to do when this is all over? Short term I’m going to take some time off from running. Maybe a week or two depending on how I’m feeling. Then I’m going to prepare to run a 10km with my sister in mid-June. That will be more about maintaining fitness than gaining it though so I don’t think it will be a big deal. After that who knows.