Race Week Excitement & Issues

I am only a few days away from my first race of 2011! With that comes the anticipation, excitement and a tad bit of anxiety. I keep running through my thick skull all kinds of things; pacing, packing, breathing, packet pick up, proper diet, and even a bit of rest. I really do enjoy it though.

However, there is a dark side to this week, one which I am battling even as I type. You see, this past weekend I managed to drop a shampoo bottle squarely on the top of my left foot. It didn’t seem like much of an issue Sunday, but as I went for my Monday run, I could feel pressure and pain. I did the usual, try ibuprofen and move on. It helped subside the stinging pain, but the dull throb was still present. Tuesday was about the same, mild pain for most of the day with sharp twinges here and there. Today, the sharp twinges aren’t as bad, but I still don’t feel like pressing my luck with a short run. I’m not upset with this as I’ve already surpassed my March goal by almost 19 miles, but it’s race week and I wanted to get in another 5 - 6 mile run before Sunday. That doesn’t look like it is going to happen, but I’m hopeful that Friday I will feel much better.

So what about this race? Well, it’s the Ohio River Road Runner’s marathon & half marathon. This is the oldest marathon in Ohio and takes place in Xenia. While I would have liked to have done the full 26.2, I decided it best to only take on the half this time around. 13.1 seems to be my favorite distance, followed closely by the 10k, and this is a pretty flat course out and back. My goal, foot permitting, is to get below 2 hours. But perhaps I should back up first. Goals for this race: finish, finish without injury, finish in less than 2 hours, finish as close to 1:50:00 as possible. Weather and temperature are sure to have an impact, but based on last year’s Flying Pig half, I hope that the elusive sub-two hour time will be more than achievable.

What else? Not sure. I hope to have a race report up within a couple days of the race, so keep your eyes open for that. In the mean time, as part of my race week rest, I am taking my wonderful training partner and wife to a hockey game Friday night between our Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets, rest in one of it’s finest forms!