Wednesday, May 15, 2013

First Marathon Freak Out

It’s been awhile since I posted, lots of stuff has been going on and I just haven’t been able to take the time to do it. I’m hoping to once again get back to updating this blog regularly.  However, more important things to touch on right now.

In 3 days I will be running my very first marathon.  Not only is it a marathon, but it’s a trail marathon.  A trial marathon that I hear are hills the entire 26.2 miles. Am I ready for this? I hope so!
I love my trails, so it’s only natural for me to tackle a trail marathon instead of a flat road marathon for my first one.  In fact, unless it’s at some super duper awesome location (such as Paris) I currently have no desire to do a road marathon. I might change my mind soon, but for right now, I would prefer to stick to trails.
I am pretty good at running hills, I’ll admit that.  However the park I normally train at for trail races isn’t all hills. Each hill has a straight or downhill following it for awhile before the next one. I’m nervous about constantly going up and down.

The temperature is also predicted to be in the low 80’s.  I do NOT run well in the heat.  My body just doesn’t handle it well. 

When I start to over-heat my heart rate goes up.  When I push it on hills my heart rate goes up.  Remember what happens when my heart rate goes up? I puke.

I did have a time goal for this race, I knew what I had hoped my per-mine mile pace would be.  I’m kinda throwing that out the window.  The main goal, with this being the last, is to finish it strong anyway.
So for now my race plan is to carry water with me, stop at each water station to fill up my bottle, drink water, splash water on my head, then continue.  This means a longer marathon but I think it’ll be safer. I also plan to walk hills if I start getting that familiar feeling telling me my HR is skyrocketing.   My goal is to run a safe and smart race and not pay attention to the time. I’ll finish when I do.
My main goal is to go out there and have fun and enjoy the adventure!

That doesn’t mean I’m not freaking out.   I’m FREAKING OUT!

Stay tuned for pictures and a race re-cap next week!