pounding

I really meant it when I said I'm poorly prepared for the race tomorrow. In January when we signed up I wanted to challenge myself, and assuming I would train properly in the 6 months between me and the race, I ended up with a 3 mile uphill leg and then 2 nice 5 mile legs. I'd usually rather run 8 miles that are slow and steady or flat than any distance uphill so I was excited for the challenge.

Except I mostly crapped out.

I had my last semester of school this spring and was preoccupied with that and then at the end of a too long college road I turned into a totally lazy mess in the month since school has finished. For the first time in a long time I had time to sit, weekends with no homework and the relief that I'm done. And that's been nice, but it did nothing for my training schedule.

I've tried half-heartedly the past few months, always with the worry in the back of my head that I was already too far gone to be ready. Last night I went for a final pre-race run to remove some of the anxiety I feel about staring this in the face tomorrow:

(I realize 800 feet in 3 miles is not nearly as difficult as the 1,400 and 1,600 feet Logan and Rick gain their last 3 and 4 miles respectively, but I'm a baby and they are not)

It was rainy out and quiet and I started my 6 hour long running playlist halfway in at songs I don't ever get to (I dont know why I have a running playlist that is 6 hours long...in case I have to run to Provo someday maybe?). Instead of starting in on myself for being a buttfor, I thought about enjoying it. And I did enjoy it. I realized that I have been doing some training and I could probably let my body trust it's 9 years of running to remember how to do it for a race that it's done 3 times before and always survived splendidly. And yeah, maybe this won't be my best but I'll do it and and do my best.

So I ate a cookie and ice cream when I got home because, hey! I'll be burning all those calories this weekend! And I made three separate running playlists specifically for each run because, hey! I have 6 hours of running songs that have been underused! And most importantly...I'll be having so much fun because, hey! We're Ted Danson With Wolves!

This is one of the forgotten favorites I ran across last night...