Preparing for the race

In 36 hours I'll be starting the longest race of my life so far. 4 miles. Not that far actually, especially since I regularly run 5 or 6 miles as a normal training run. I'm also not terribly concerned about my time either. I'll finish in about 40 minutes I figure, give or take depending on how I feel that day.

The challenges of this race will be logistical. It's the first race I've run away from home, so I have to do more planning ahead. In addition to making sure I pack my sneakers, I also have to give some thought to how to get a good night's sleep and have a proper breakfast in my father in laws house. Did I also mention this will be our dog's first night away from home with us? I probably won't sleep well if she's jumping on the bed all night. So we pack the crate for her to sleep in, which means we're driving the pickup truck, which means I was under it yesterday morning giving it an oil change. So Pennzoil is part of my pre-race preparations.

Now about breakfast, and in particular the coffee portion of it. I like my coffee in the morning. I feel slow without it, and that's not a good thing on a race day. However, unlike a training run, where I can use the bathroom and then head right out the door for a run, a race in February is probably going to involve lots of standing around outside in the cold waiting for the start. At the last race I ran they had one outhouse for 400 runners + friends and family. This leads to some very interesting pre-race strategy, so that you can start the race, um, without an overfull tank.

And now it is time to go to bed, so I can be up early, pack and travel. Wish me luck!