‘Twas The Night Before Fairfield

Tomorrow I will run 13.1 miles through Fairfield, CT.

The way I see it, this race could go one of two ways:

1. I wake up, feel amazing, say F-you Crohn’s and totally dominate the course. (I love this option.)
2. I wake up, don’t feel so hot, and get through the race knowing I’m doing my best considering my recent flare-up. If I have to stop along the course to use the bathroom, that’s not the end of the world. I’ll stop, then I’ll keep going. Eventually I will cross the finish line.

There are a few things that are not an option regarding tomorrow’s race:

1. I will not get frustrated. My stomach is going to function however it decides. I’m sticking with my usual pre-race plan and hoping my body chooses to cooperate. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
2. I will not cry. Unless they are tears of pride and happiness, I will not let myself get upset.
3. I will not beat myself up if I don’t PR. Coach Cane’s plan isn’t for me to PR tomorrow anyway. He just wants me to run a smart race with negative splits. So if by some miracle I do PR, that’s cool. But it’s absolutely acceptable if I don’t. No hard feelings on myself.
4. I will not look down when I cross the finish line. My recent finish line photos have me glancing dishearteningly at my watch, clearly annoyed by my time. Tomorrow, I will smile when I hit the 13.1 mile mark.

So that’s that.

I spent last night and all day today eating smartly, resting my legs and trying not to be stressed out, because I know that worrying about the race will not help my cause.

I’m proud to say that my To Do list is in amazing shape. When things get completed, they get highlighted.

Here’s how it looked yesterday:

Mediocre effort

And here’s today as of 6:30 pm:

Total domination

I got all of the Save the Dates for my best friend’s wedding addressed, stuffed into envelopes and sealed, which I’m feeling great about. That’s one big task off my list!

I love them!

Signed, sealed, ready to be delivered. My job is done.

I also put together my official Fairfield Half Marathon playlist for tomorrow. I think it’s a pretty solid one.

Yes, you do see Celine Dion on that list. Do you even know me? No racing playlist is complete without some French Canadian melodies with a side of Legally Blonde: The Musical and a decent amount of Britney.

Playlist recipe for success.

Since I’m racing tomorrow, I was also able to sleep in this morning. No long run required! When was the last time I wasn’t up with the sun on a Saturday?!

Of course, “sleeping in” meant I woke up at 7:15 am, but it felt dang good. I was rested and happy to be able to lay in bed and lounge around for a little while before starting my day.

Eventually I set out for a 2-mile run, per Coach Cane’s orders. He said to run short miles just to get my legs moving. He requested a slow pace with a few striders mixed in to kick it up a bit. It was so hot out and I was a gross beautiful mess after just 18 minutes of running.

A nice little jaunt along the East River

After my run, I headed for Central Park for Adventures NYC.

This was such a great event! There were tons of vendors in the park, and I was (naturally) working at the JackRabbit booth.

Hi!

We were there to promote the store and do some fun giveaways. We hosted a shoe lacing competition and the crowds got really into it.

Lots of people at the booth!

Faster! Faster! Win win win!

I was undefeated. I’m way too competitive to “let people win.” I was excited that lots of friends stopped by, including Shannon, and I loved how much energy and enthusiasm there was in Central Park.

I was so badass.

I got some 16 Handles on my way home (What? It’s race day fuel. Clearly.) and soon I’m going to eat some sort of pasta for dinner.

Um, yum…

My watch is charged, my Shuffle is loaded and my outfit is picked out.

(Hairstyle is still up for debate. Suggestions?)

I’m hoping to get some solid sleep hours before my 4:30 am wakeup call tomorrow.

I’m driving up to the race with the JackRabbit crew before the 8:30 am start. It’s going to be an early morning and a long day, but I’m actually getting pretty excited. Running is fun!

My fingers are crossed for a smooth, speedy race. Whether or not tomorrow’s race is a redemption run, I know it’ll be a valuable experience for me. Game on!

Good luck to all the other runners tomorrow, in Fairfield and beyond!