As the race gets closer and closer, I'm getting more and more freaked out...and less post-y :)

As bad as I've been about posting, I've actually been doing pretty well in my training.  After being sick for the first week of January, I pushed myself out of the door that weekend to do the 5 miler we were scheduled for.  I took it really easy, running on the trail behind our house so I could bail at any time.  Around mile 3, I started feeling incredibly sluggish and decided to cut it short, to just under 4 miles.  Still, I wasn't terribly slow, and the weather was beautiful (mid 50s, partly sunny)

That next week, we had a scheduled 18 mile run, so I worked hard at getting my workouts in.  The hardest part was actually getting time on a treadmill.  After work, the gyms were inundated with New Years resolutionists...so I usually had to put off my runs until 9 or 10 pm.  I also started going back to Kenpo on Monday nights, because he's extended the advanced class to 2 hours...so the hour drive out there is now worth it. 

By the time the 18 miler rolled around, I felt like I was back on track...but I was still dreading it a bit.  I'm so so glad we went out to run with the team, because we picked up Gin as another training partner.  Since she also hadn't been running the long runs in a while, she forced us to slow down a bit in the beginning.  By the time she left us around mile 13, we were still going full steam.  I don't think I started hurting until after mile 16, which was amazing!!  We switched from 7:1 intervals to 5:1s after the halfway point, which I think also helped a lot.  I'm still in awe about how well this run went, the first 9 miles felt like a breeze....crazy!

The next couple weeks flew by, including my birthday and restaurant week.  I got in workouts where I could, and went out to eat a lot :)  I got to see my sister (Hi Nance!!) and parents and aunts and uncles and friends I hadn't seen in a long time.  It was super nice, but not relaxing at all.  So by the time our 20 miler came around, i was already pretty exhausted.

Connie and I decided to do the 20 miler at Burke Lake park, since Hien would be there training for her 100k hike.   It was a 4.5 mi loop on rugged trail (mostly dirt with some roots and a bit of gravel...and about   3/4 mile paved) so we assumed we'd do about 4.25 loops with the last quarter being an out and back.  I guess our memory of how flat this trail is (it goes around a Lake for God's sake) was kinda skewed because we did a LOT of climbing.  It was also freezing cold out, and some of the uphill sections were iced over.  We actually managed to get 3 loops in with no trouble at all, feeling almost as good as we did for the 18 miler.  The 4th loop, though...was miserable.  Every muscle in my leg hurt (especially the glutes).  Seeing Hien and her training partner perked us up a bit (until we heard that said training partner took a spill down one of the icy sections), but it just wasn't enough to keep us in a good mood.  We managed to finish, and in less than 4 hours!! (3:47:34 to be exact, although to be fair, I stopped the clock every time I had to stop and pee and when we stopped to refill our bottles...so it ended up being almost exactly 4 hours).  Given how hilly / icy the trail was, I'm glad we didn't try to go for anything longer than 20.  Connie reassured me this run was about as bad as her last 2 marathons, so I'm feeling pretty confident.

The last 2 weeks have been taper.  We went for a 2 hour run on the 2nd, and another 1 hour run just this past Saturday.  Both felt pretty good, and we managed to do the last run in sub 10:00 miles....which is amazing for us! :) 

I'm feeling pretty confident about finishing this race, although I'm getting a bit freaked out too.  I actually packed all my nutrition last night!!!  Me!  I never pack until the day of travel!  I think we have it all setup though.  We're planning on carrying our drink of choice (HEED for me, Accelerade for Connie) in our fuel belts, and drinking the water at the water stops.  We'll send Mike, Richard and my dad out with full squeezy bottles full of the stuff to, so if we do see them on the route, we can fill back up.  If not, we'll start drinking the Powerade Mountain Blast they're providing on the course (since neither of us have trained with it, it might not be the best thing....but it's a last resort thing).  I hope to eat a Gu / Clif Shot every 4 miles, and take small swigs from my Hammer Gel flask as necessary...washing those down with water.  I have a bottle of Endurolytes, which I hope to take every hour or so, but I've only practiced with them twice (once during an Oly Tri and the other time for our 2 hour run).  I'm still not sure if it's risky, but I also don't want to cramp up.

The rest of the plan is to just take it easy.  We're going to walk up the steeper hills and not worry about getting passed by other runners.  One of our coaches has even challenged us all to negative split this race, so that may be used as a motivator to take it easy for the first half.  Although that may mess with our plans of running the first half using the 7:1 interval and the second half at 5:1.  Hmmm...

I think I have it all thought out though.  Am I missing anything?