I'm in charge, nerves

With four days until my first half marathon, I’m extremely nervous (and occasionally excited). My current stomach knotters:

• The weather: it’s hot and humid. I don’t run well when it’s hot or humid. Excellent.
• An illness: I’m afraid I’ll get sick before the race. Every sniffle, every cough, every ache or pain is cause for concern. Am I getting sick? I CAN’T get sick.
• Tripping: as in, tripping and falling or tripping and spraining an ankle, knee, leg, something. I'm clumsy. This is entirely possible.

Looking at these concerns, I'm realizing the ridiculousness of them. I can't control any of them. So, I'm going to focus instead on things I can control.

• Hydration: Our coach told us about the importance of hydrating two to three days in advance of the race. I can do this. I like water. I drink a lot of it anyway. Easy enough.
• Diet: I've read many, many articles (and listened to my coach talk) about race day (and night before) nutrition. Basically, eat things you're used to eating. Don't try anything new. Carbohydrates are an ideal form of energy. Same thing for the morning of the race. I can do this. I'm in charge of what goes in my stomach.
• Sleep: That's it. Sleep. Get good rest the night before, but more importantly, two nights before the race. I rock at sleeping! I need to sleep well Friday night? No problem! I'm always exhausted from the work week, and I have no problem whatsoever getting in some serious sleeping hours.

I am in control of this race. I trained. I know I can do this. I will hydrate, eat smart and sleep well. Bring it!

Day 2

I can describe Thursday’s training run in one word: hot. I guess there was more to it than that, but that’s all I really remember.

I’m in a training group through Fit2Run, a running store. It’s located in a mall in Tampa, and we run outside the mall along an airport service road. Asphalt. No trees. No shade. Hot.

The plan was to run 40 minutes. I did not. I suck. And, I was really hot (there’s that word again). I also screwed up my watch (I don’t think I reset it), so I’m not really sure how far I went or how many minutes I ran vs. walked. I’m estimating I ran about 25 min., and then did walk-run intervals for the remaining time (ending with a nice 5-minute run — I was proud of this). I stopped running because I felt tingly (best word I know to describe the feeling) all over. I’ve never felt that before, and I was afraid it could be heat related. Heat-related issues scare me. A hurt foot, sore calves or tired legs don’t scare me. I’ll try to run through those. Heat- or heart-related issues are another story.

So, considering the heat, I’m trying to be happy with what I did. I tend to be very hard on myself, though, and I’m actually kind of upset. I know I can run longer. I can run for 40 minutes. I know this. I just haven’t done it in the training group yet. Maybe Sunday is my day.

On a positive note, I think I am hydrating properly for the runs. I drink about four bottles (maybe a 24-oz. bottle?) of ice water throughout the day. About two hours before I run, I drink a bottle of sports drink (as disgusting as they may be). I haven’t been thirsty on the runs, although I did end up buying a small water bottle with a pouch that goes over your hand (so it’s not like you’re struggling to hold on to a bottle while you’re trying to run). I think I’ll need that for longer runs.

The plan for Sunday: I have no idea. It’s our long run of the week. So, longer than 40 minutes. We’re running along the bay, which is nice, but we’re meeting at 7:30 a.m. (UGH).