Run, MeriG. Run.: Oh. My. Gawd.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Oh. My. Gawd.

I can't even contain myself.

In just over 24 hours, Betsy and I get on a plane from this:

To this:

I don't say this just to make you jealous.

Don't get me wrong, I do say it to make you jealous. But not just to make you jealous. You too could have trained for a marathon for 19 months and then you too could be going to Miami.

Or conversely...like Betsy...you could just be going to Miami.

So all I have to do now is get sleep, stay hydrated, stretch and rest up, pack and carbo-load! Sooooo simple right?

Wrong. WRONG.

Yes, I've done this whole "week before a marathon thing" before...but two things about that:

1) There was a hurricane. I did not do any of it properly.
2) I'm trying to forget that 2012 NYC ever happened. 2013 Miami was ALWAYS THE INTENTION! [That's my story and I'm sticking to it!]

So, we just need to pack for a simple 4-day trip to Miami, huh? Here's what Brooks recommends packing:

AND THAT'S JUST THE RUNNING STUFF. I still want to like, wear bathing suits and other clothes while I'm there.

Crazy.

And carbo-loading? Turns out it's not just this:

According to many resources, including Runner's World, this is crucial and can actually make or break a race. If you have a week stomach or are prone to GI issues (as I am...but have not yet really subjected my blog readers to hearing about..) this can be especially critical.

So it's not a hey day of carb-happiness, unfortunately.

Runner's World says:

You can't completely fill your muscles with glycogen from just one meal, "which is why you should start carbo-loading two or three days before your race," says Ryan. Since you're running very few miles, the glycogen will accumulate in your muscles. At this point, 85 to 95 percent of your calories should come from carbs, says Katz. Ryan recommends eating about four grams of carbs for every pound of body weight (for a 150 pound runner that's 600 grams—or 2,400 calories—of carbs per day). During his research, Rapoport developed an even more precise formula, which runners can access at endurancecalculator.com, that factors in variables including age, resting heart rate, VO2 max, and predicted finishing time. It's important to keep in mind that you're most likely not eating many more calories per day than you were during the thick of your training—it's just that more of those calories are coming from carbs.

So I'm doing what I can. Let's just say that I didn't train for 19 months to spend the race in a port-o-potty...so this is probably my biggest race-week / race-day concern.

Alright, so the packing, the carbs, the resting (trying to get 8-9 hours of sleep last night, tonight and tomorrow night to make sure my beauty sleep is at its max).

The rough itinerary:

Friday:
Fly to Florida
Hang out with Betsy and her Mom and be totes chill

Saturday:

Go to Publix for the first time ever

Eat a sub at Publix

Eat Publix cookies

Check into South Beach hotel (what what!)

Go to the expo

Eat carbs with Betsy and TFK team-mates Erika and Joss

Listen to pump up music in our hotel room

Go to sleep

A trip highlight to be certain

Sunday

Wake up at 3 am to eat (evidently you need to eat 3 hours before race start?) [sorry Betsy...]

4 am shuttle to the start

6:15: RUN A MARATHON [maybe]

Monday and Tuesday:
This:

And going here: http://wetwillies.com/wet-willies-call-a-cab.html

I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it.

As far as the race goes, if you're interested in tracking me, here you go!

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