Welp… I guess I’m doing this!

FYI, Aaron gets to ride to the start line in a special press car (he’s filming the American Cancer Society athletes) with Jason and Molly from The Bachelor and some woman from Twilight.

I… am taking a shuttle bus.

!!!

See you on the other side of 13.1!

DetermiNation team dinner

The American Cancer Society put on a nice dinner for all the Seattle DetermiNation athletes last night. I almost didn’t recognize everyone in normal clothes and with their hair down and makeup on!

A bunch of volunteers were on hand to cheer on the athletes as we went into the dining room.

The music, cheers and support got me really excited for TOMORROW!

We had a plated dinner of Caesar salad and pasta with chicken, plus CUPCAKES! My table of eight included three people with food restrictions: one who didn’t eat gluten, one who didn’t eat dairy and one who didn’t eat meat. Unfortunately, our server didn’t quite understand what these needs meant, so she kept bringing out more PASTA with CHICKEN and creamy sauce/CHEESE for these people.

Aaron took advantage of the rejected food and ate FOUR dinners total. Plus, he had at least four cupcakes, maybe even five (I lost track). He just told everyone he’s carb-loading for the marathon… which he isn’t even running : D

It was great that we got to spend some time with people we’ve been training with for months and months, and to be able to talk about our nerves going into the race. The girls who sat next to me are running the full marathon, so I felt like I shouldn’t be nervous at all since I’m only running HALF that! It kinda made me feel better. : D

Oooh, and I goofed up. I planned to go to the expo last night to pick up my bib/switch corrals, but the dinner was actually at 6:00, not 7:00 like I thought! Since I didn’t have time for the expo, I’ll be hitting it right after work tonight. So excited – my first expo!

The final countdown!

OK, kids! TWO days until my first half-marathon! Here’s some fun info:

  • I did my LAST training run last night – 2 miles at 8:46-ish pace (I forget). Now I just have to trust my training!
  • I’m going to the race expo tonight with a new friend to pick up my race number, packet, shirt and swag, PLUS move to a faster corral. I estimated my finish time at 2:15 when I signed up for this race way back when (having no clue what my goal pace was), so now I’m gonna estimate a 2:00 finish to get into a slightly faster corral than I think is necessary – just so I won’t have to weave. Wheee!
  • I’ve listened to this song about 50,000 times since Monday. It’s helping with the nerves.

I’ve also read this message about 50,000 times since it was sent to me on Saturday, and I’ll probably read it 50,000 more:

Anonymous asked you:

I just have to say, you’re going to kick ass in your race. You’ll totally suprise yourself and probably break 2:05 – if not better. I know you should just focus on finishing and all that, but if you stay positive, keep a good clip going and just keep moving like you have been, you’ll totally beast this run. Even at 9:20-9:40s on your training runs, you might bring a way lower number on race day. (But don’t over think it!) Good luck!

You, Anonymous, are a patriot and a scholar. Also, extremely good-looking.

The encouragement means so much, and beast this run is totally my mantra for this race!

Second-to-last run before the half-marathon!

This was one of those “PLEASE JUST LET IT BE OVER” runs. It was warmer and sunnier than I’m used to — so, basically, that means the sun was actually out in Seattle — and I got hot/sweaty/thirsty much faster than usual.

I could tell I was swallowing air bubbles along with my water, and sure enough I got some wicked cramps right at mile 2. I tried to push through them, but ended up pulling over for a minute to recover.

I’m excited for the nice, cool weather at the start of the half — 7 a.m., wheee!

Today, I got that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach that I always get a few days before races… except today is MONDAY and the race is SATURDAY!

The nerves definitely affected my run tonight. It was tough to relax and just run. I kept having to tell myself, “Relax. You know how to do this. Don’t overthink it.”

I have a ton of support coming from friends, loved ones, Tumblr homies and Twitter friends, but I’ll still be nervous right up until the first step of that half-marathon! That’s just how I am. But I take comfort in knowing that once I run that first step, I’ll have an absolute blast…

And hopefully kill it.