The Mini is tomorrow.

Training-wise, there is nothing left to do. Prep-wise, though? TONS. I'm combing through a map of the race course to pinpoint mile markers and potty stations, packing my bag, laying out my clothes, debating whether or not to bring my iPod (leaning towards no), leaving messages for Katy, mentally reviewing the last few months of my training, freaking out over parking, cursing Aunt Flo for her unexpected visit, and worrying that the timing device on my bib will fail to activate just like it did during my 10K training run in March.

Here is the plan so far:

• Wake up at 4:45 a.m.
• Take a quick shower (neck down only).
• Get dressed (trusty blue tech shirt and cotton black capris I've been training in all spring) and eat breakfast (whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and milk).
• Double-check bag contents.
• Leave the house by 5:35 a.m.
• Find parking.
• If time allows, review course map and pray.
• Final corral spot (we're supposed to be in our assigned spots by 6:45 a.m.).
• Wait patiently until my corral crosses the start line.

My mind is racing faster than my feet could ever hope to run come 7:33 a.m. tomorrow, planting reminders in my brain to start out slow, to ignore the pace of the other runners around me, to enjoy the atmosphere, to have fun. As far as goals go, if I were to have gone through training injury-free, I'd be aiming for two and a half hours, but I didn't, so my primary objective is to make it through without being picked up by the trail bus, which collects anybody pacing slower than an 18-minute mile. At best I'm over eleven minutes, at worst more than twelve, so I should be okay, but you never know. If I can hit two hours and forty minutes, even better. (Don't ask me where that particular number came from, because I don't know, except that when I registered for the Rock 'n Roll Chicago Half Marathon a couple of weeks ago I was asked to list an estimated finish time, and I had no idea what to put down, so I went with 2:40. We'll see soon enough how smart that was!

I am equal parts nervous, excited, and ready for this experience to be over. My training kind of petered out near the end as knee troubles, work load, and family responsibilities drained my motivation. I don't know how well prepared I am to do anything but cross the finish line in one piece - certainly there will be no dramatic breaking of tape or winning my age division, but at the end of tomorrow, I will have run thirteen miles, and I couldn't do that in January, and THAT is a pretty big deal to me. Plus, the odds that I'll have a successful race are pretty high, seeing as the weather is supposed to be in the fifties, the course is flat, and there will be water and bathroom stations at almost every mile. This afternoon I signed up to post Twitter updates from my phone, in the event that I am inspired to share deep thoughts with the interwebs en route, but that will probably interfere with the timer, so that may not pan out. My hope is to publish a post-race update tomorrow night because I just know you'll be drumming your fingers and frantically refreshing my home page until you hear from me again. (Ha!) Until then, might I interest you in some pictures?

 

Luke and the kids at the local Best Buddies race a couple of weeks back.

 

Kara and I at the Indianapolis Race for the Cure event in mid-April.

Nathan and I last week during a post-dinner family walk on our trail.

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Okay, it's ten o'clock and Luke is ushering me to bed. Wish me luck, friends!  
 

Comments

[Dawn]

Will you see Luke anywhere along the course? If so, bring your iPod. You'll rather have it and not use it than get halfway through and want it desperately. If you're not using it and carrying it around is bugging you, you can always hand it off to Luke when you see him. (Poor Irwin has totally become my pack mule at races - I don't think he's been to one yet where I haven't given him gloves or a hat or a headband that I no longer needed at some point.)

Stupid captain obvious question in re: timing tag: Are these the D-tags that come on your bib? You know it has to go on your shoe, right? (If you did know that, then you can smack me for asking a stupid question.)

Like I said before, 2:40 is not unreasonable (although don't kill yourself trying to hit it) and you'll definitely be far ahead of the sag wagon, even if you have a bad day. I'm pretty sure you could walk the entire thing and still make the cutoff.

Most importantly: HAVE FUN! I'm so excited for you!

[Kelly]

Oh good luck!! I'm so impressed... what an accomplishment!

[Meredith]

Bree,
Good luck on the race. Might I suggest checking out Jeff Galloway? He is a seasoned marathon runner and has built a business of training runners for marathons while keeping them injury free. It's all about the run/walk pace. My dad, who is 61, ran his first marathon in February and followed Jeff's methods and even attended his running seminar. Jeff even has a blog that offers lots of great tips on motivation, pace, injury, etc. I hope this helps! I'm trying to get back into the running since my son was born last December. I enjoy your blog and Jen (Hey Y'all) is my best friend! I feel like I know you :P

-Meredith

[Jenn]

Hi Bree! I'm the Jennifer that introduced myself somewhere around mile 3. It was great seeing you on the course, even though it is kind of weird that I know all about you :) Hope things went well for you. I walked maybe 3 miles total and finished at right around 3 hours. My goal was to run more than I walked, and I blew that out of the park!

[Bill Shannon]

Hi Bree,

It's 2:43pm CDT in Chicago and by now you have successful completed your journey, "in one piece" (your words). So, I'll say Congratulations, well done indeed. I am drumming my fingers and on the edge of my seat waiting for your report.

--- Bill Shannon

[eva]

Yay Bree! So happy for you to have accomplished such a huge goal! And I hope you figured out the timing chip - they usually go onto your shoe or onto a band around your wrist or ankle. Be sure to treat yourself to something as a reward and have an awesome mother's day tomorrow!

[Frema]

Thanks for the support, everyone! I ran the Mini and lived to tell the tale. I'm still aiming to give a post-race report tonight (if I don't pass out).

Re: the timing bib: The Mini is using a new piece of timing technology this year, a single-use bib tag called the ChronoTrack Bib Timing Device. It is actually attached to the bib, not meant to be tied to your shoe. For my 5Ks, though, those races used the D-tags that Dawnie described.

[Grandma Molly]

I did tune in to check for more information. But, I missed this post last night so I am catching up. Congratulations, on your journey to get to the big run and then completing the run. This really was a committed effort. :)

[daddyd]

Good job in thinking the whole event out. Starting just right and not too fast is a key.