The Race is On

The possible trip out of town fizzled, but the race is on. I'm as nervous and excited as a kindergartner going to his first day of school. Over a year ago, a group of co-workers, a print vendor and I were discussing marathons and we all decided it would be cool to train for a marathon or at least a half. A plan was put in place and over the course of the next year, we all fell apart. I had IT band issues from doing too much, too soon. One had a groin pull, another had knee surgery....the list goes on.

I have all the pre-race jitters. I've decided that my race outfit should reflect my efforts at obtaining free or really cheap race apparel. Here's how it looks and what it cost me:
• Mizuno top-free from doing a shoe fitting
• Perl Izumi shorts-free-participating in wear-fit trial
• Perl Izumi socks-bought from Amazon with the $40 gift card I got from Runner's Lounge (so technically free)
• Mizuno shoes-$35 deal at Fleet Feet

I'm also feeling pretty good in that I am only wearing two different brands. This is definitely an improvement over my first race which consisted of a different brand for each item.

Oh, the one item I didn't mention is my Hard Rock Cafe hat. I have an ongoing collection of them, so I always wear one on a race. Maybe someday i'll move to a visor, but for now, the hat does the trick.

I'm not counting my Nike+ or my ipod as those are accessories and accessories don't count.

I read through the race info and will be picking up a couple gels for the race. They are only offering gels to the full marathon participants, but I do better taking one around mile 6 or 7. There is plenty of drinks along the course, so I won't need my fuel belt.

Race time weather should be in the upper 40s so I am safe and not violating any 40 degree runner bylaws.

Race bag pickup is Thursday/Friday at the Quality of Life Expo.