The Night Before

Tomorrow is the big day. After the whirlwind of events last weekend I wasn't sure if I would be running a marathon this fall or not. I had all but made up my mind to bag the marathon and ran a half instead when I made the impulsive decision to not give up on my dream. So now I am running the Harrisburg Marathon tomorrow as my first ever marathon. It's definitely not what I expected would be my first marathon but I am out of the world excited for it.

The plan was to come home Thursday night and spend all Friday and today relaxing and getting my homework done so I could enjoy race weekend. But then a meeting popped up on Friday and before I knew it I had gotten none of my homework done at the end of the day Friday. I woke up determined to get as much done as possible without stressing out. It wasn't my ideal day for before a big race but it could have been so much worse.

I have been a good endurance runner and have been eating every carb that comes my way today. I have also had enough to drink to probably fill a bath tub. I have been living in my compression socks and have been staying off my feet. I feel well rested and ready to race tomorrow.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring for me but I am letting go of all time goals and focusing on solely enjoying this experience. I will only have one first marathon and I want it to be as memorable as possible. I want to finish tomorrow's race inspired to learn how to improve at this distance not regretting my decision to sign up to run 26.2 miles. I am not wearing a watch and quite frankly I don't give a rats ass what my time is. I am doing this race because I love running and I have something to prove to myself. I will worry about time goals during shorter races.

Despite all this excitement I am still really nervous. On Friday I told one of my professors I was terrified. When my nerves start to overtake my thoughts I try to remember being told by a writer for Runner's World that if you aren't nervous there is a serious problem. I have trained for this race. I ran a brutal 20 miles a week after knocking 18 minutes off of my half marathon PR from the spring. I may not have trained like an experienced marathoner but that is because I am not one. This is my first marathon and only my second year of casual running. Yes, casual running. I run because I enjoy it. Racing is an added bonus.

Tomorrow I am going to run the most enjoyable 26.2 miles of my life.