Blog

Pre-race mid-week update

It’s Wednesday. The countdown on my watch says there are just three days until race-day. But, since Wednesday’s essentially done, that leaves two days, really; not that I’m counting… I’ve already had my pre-race talk with Coach John and have spent a fair amount of mental energy this week thinking about clothing choices (flexibility), my nutritional plan (lots of calories), my pacing plan (slow) and logistics for my wife, in-laws and Assaf to see me during the race. Everything is pretty much set.

I’m excited to race. I’m especially curious to see what happens after I hit the 30-or-so mile marker. At about mile 26.21, I’ll be in uncharted territory for a single run and somewhere around mile 36, I’ll pass my longest single day of running. I’m confident that my body can do this. But, as I wrote many times during the final preparation for the Ironman, I have to keep in mind that just because my body can do this race, doesn’t mean that November 17 will be the day that it happens. There are so many things that could happen on race-day, especially on a race-day as long as this one will be, that no matter how prepared or confident or “fit” I am, anything could happen. I think I’m covered for all of the reasonably foreseeable (good lawyerly phrase there…) issues and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that nothing totally unexpected arises.

I’ve been thinking back on the Ironman training and the last few days leading up to that race. I remember (and thanks to my blog, have read) that I was both more prepared and more nervous. At this point before the race, we were up in Lake Placid, all settled and I was already immersed in the race festivities; in the weeks leading up to the race, I’d swam, biked and run every inch of the race course at least twice; I had a specific nutritional plan that covered me for just about the entire race and that I’d followed during my training; and from my training, I thought that I had a good idea of what to expect for the entire race (that proved not to be true about 3 miles into the marathon, but I obviously didn’t know that pre-race). I was more nervous in large part because of that preparation – even though I tried not to think about them too much, I had time goals for each leg, or half-leg of the race and my goals were based on my race simulations; I had built this up for a year and imposed some pretty heavy expectations on myself; it would be my longest race – by far – and I wanted to do well.

On the other hand, I don’t feel like I’ve given nearly as much thought to this race – not that it’s any less of a big deal (it’s not!) or because I think it will be easier (just the opposite, I expect this to be harder) – it just seems like maybe it will be more natural. I’ll line up at 7AM and just run and then run and run and run and walk until the end. There’s no transition areas (though I will be changing my shoes after the Appalachian Trail section), there’s no other equipment or “personal needs bags” to worry about. It’s stripped down and simpler – there somewhat less to plan and thus less details to get bogged down in and nervous about. All I have to worry about is focus – I’m healthy, I’m fit and I’m ready.

But, holy sh*t, I’m actually going to do this?!?!?!

Run – November 12
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 141
Course: Washington Square Park
Conditions: Crisp, partly cloudy

Yoga – November 12

Run – November 14
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 144
Course: West Village
Conditions: Warmer (high 40s), sunny