This race (The GE Irving Marathon half) is feeling a little odd for me. Of late, so many of my races have been out of state that the thought of sleeping in my own bed tonight and just going about my normal routine has felt . . .STRANGE. My nerves are kicking in a bit and I think I’m going to choose to lean into that.

My friend, Ruth Ann, shared this article (from the American Psychiatric Society no less) on the blogs FB page and I’ve decided to adopt it’s wisdom as my own. Going to go with the excited and not try to squelch it!

Many of you have asked what my routines are and I think every “serial racer” has at least a few. Some are just vague guidelines like “carb load” and some are extremely specific! Such as “eat a bagel from Einsteins with exactly one tablespoon of veggie shmear”.

My routine is pretty basic and predictable. I’m working today so I’ll be on my feet more than I’d like, but other than that, here’s how the day (and my eating) will roll:

9am – shake out run of 3 miles. I haven’t done this before but my coach is recommending it, and I’ve read a lot that supports it, so I’m gonna do it!!

10:30 – big breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast! (today’s diet will be veggie and salad free. My stomach prefers that.)

1:30 – 5:30 Work (remember, I’m only working part time right now so although the pay check reflects the fewer hours, only working 4 hours today is AWESOME:)

6:00 dinner. Quite literally . . . noodles and butter (which always makes me think of Kenneth on 30 Rock “Excuse me, but by chance do ya’ll just have noodles and butter?”) and exactly one glass of very good red wine. Not two. Just one. The rest of the bottle will be consumed tomorrow night in celebration. (yes, this is my one quirky, very specific weird thing. Oh, and that reminds me, I need to go get my wine at Market Street).

8:00 – hang out with the family on the couch with my feet up. Try to see if I can get them to watch Spirit of the Marathon. Again.

10:00 – LIGHTS OUT. Earlier if I can get away with it. I’ll also take one Imodium before bed and another one in the morning. That’s been my ritual for several years now and it’s kept my stomach issue free. At one point, my intestinal issues threatened my racing permanently – I just couldn’t keep having to stop at port potties multiple times. The Imodium has solved the problem. I’m not a doctor and I’m sure for hydration reasons this is a HORRIBLE idea so please don’t do as I do or if you do, know it’s at your own risk.

Tomorrow will be what it is. I’ve worked as hard as I can. The weather looks great, my training has been solid, and I’ll give it my best shot. But there’s no telling WHAT may happen tomorrow and I think that may be the favorite part of racing for many of us. Because yes, Friends, we’re awesome and we’re fierce and we’re fun but let’s face it . . .runners are weird:).

Happy running! Fingers crossed for me if you think of it!

Jen

Discloser: I received a free registration for this race. Many thanks to the amazing people at the GE Irving Marathon for your generosity and for continuing to put on such a great event!