Pages

Thursday, November 8, 2018

I'm So Excited!! Madison Marathon Is Three Days Away!!! (Pre-Race Thoughts Part 1)

Disclaimer:  I am running the Madison Marathon presented by SSM Health in November as a BibRave Pro, which means my entry fee was covered for me. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador) and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!  

Three more days until race day!  EEK!

My taper has been business as usual here.  I've had some annoying aches and pains, I'm eating lots of carbs, and I'm making lists and lists and lists.  All of my taper runs have felt off.  Again, business as usual as far as me and the marathon taper are concerned.  One nice thing about documenting your training is that you can go back to previous races and see how psycho the taper makes you feel :)  The two issues that have been nagging me over the last week are 1) Tightness in my left hamstring that has come and gone, but always seems to be "there" during my runs; and 2) The Never Ending Period.  It's fun being a female athlete sometimes!

Nevertheless, I am excited to be heading to Madison to run again.  My eleven mile training run to check out the back half of the course that I did a few weeks ago just made me excited to get going.  The race organizers sent out a *stellar* race day logistics email earlier this week.  Nothing puts my anxiety at ease like a well-organized race!

I am also excited about the course!  Madison Marathon is my favorite kind of course - looped in various directions and with a start and finish at the same spot:

Madison Marathon Finish/Start Line area

I am excited for post-race amenities!  I for one am planning to cross that finish line and walk directly to that Michelob Ultra blue rectangle to get my FREE post-race beer.  It has been a while since I had a beer and I know it will taste so delicious.  Madison Marathon also offers FREE race photos!

I am excited about the weather!  As of right now the weather is looking good:  41 degrees and partly cloudy.  I still haven't finalized my race day outfit but know that I will be wearing my BibRave orange shirt!

I am excited to race! I have been tracking a lot of marathons recently:  Milwaukee Lakefront, Chicago Marathon, New York Marathon, Indianapolis Marathon.  Every one was so exciting and fun and made me even more excited for my own race.  This is one nice thing about a late fall race!

I am excited to see spectators, including one Oiselle bird in a banana suit!  FOR REAL.  I didn't know any spectators outside of my husband and kids at my last race so I know it will be a real boost to see friendly faces at different points of the race.

I am now reminded of the Saved By The Bell episode where Jesse Spano takes caffeine pills and sings "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...so....SCARED".  This is true.  I am a little scared.  More to come on that later.

My family and I are headed to the great city of Madison on Saturday and will head to the Monona Terrace (where the hubs and I met, and, years later, got engaged!) to pick up my packet and check out the expo.  You can track me by downloading the Madison Marathon app.  My bib number is 8826.  The race starts 7 AM on Sunday.

Madison Marathon App Interface

If you are running Madison Marathon, let me know and I will #SEEYOUONTHESQUARE !

No comments:

Post a Comment