T'was the night before the half...

If someone told me two years ago that I would be running a half marathon, I would have laughed to their faces. But here I am, two years after I first started to run, getting ready for 21 km of non-stop running. Hopefully.

The decision was made after the SL10K in May, to register and train for the Toronto waterfront marathon on October 14. That's tomorrow. I did not just wake up one day and decided that I will run a half marathon. The idea first came up when I received an email to sign up to win a chance to run the Nike Women's marathon in San Francisco. The idea to visit SF and run a half marathon was thrilling. I signed up into the lottery - only 25,000 participants are allowed. I did not win an entry, but the idea was planted, I envisioned doing it. When Gary suggested we sign up for it, he did not need much to convince me. I had already run 2 races by then, the Harry Spring Run-off in High Park and the downhill Sporting Life 10K along Yonge Street. So we were registered.

My worst nightmare (I actually had a nightmare about this!) is to be able to run 20k and then cannot finish the last kilometer and I have to walk to the finish line. Imagine the crowd cheering me on and me being unable to give anything more and walking it up Bay street...The ultimate walk of shame....

The training is there. The mental preparation is there. I have been thinking of race day all of this week. In theory, everything should go smoothly. I have heard all the advice from experienced runners, 'Pace yourself', 'Don't burn yourself out in the first few kilometers', 'hydrate', 'eat carbs before the race', etc. I did make pasta on Thursday after our last short run. I have rested since Thursday, no runs at all. Everything is set and ready to go. Except the weather threatens to deliver rain!

Let's just hope tomorrow proves once again that the weather forecast is almost always wrong!
Check back after the race tomorrow!