Helvetia Half Marathon Pre-Race Goals

Less than 24 hours until our very first Half Marathon! I’m feeling excited, not nervous (well, not yet, anyway. I’m sure that will come tomorrow as we drive to the stadium.)

I took today off from work, so that we could “relax” before our race tomorrow. But we didn’t exactly lounge around the house as I had suspected we might. Instead, after sleeping in a few hours, we hit up Mother’s Bistro for some delicious breakfast. Afterward, we made our way out to Portland Running Company for packet pickup. We were in and out in no time! (Yay for painless packet pickups!) Instead of heading straight home, we made a quick pit stop at a pet store to pick up some items for a new cat that we had been thinking of adopting all week. Originally, I though it might be nice to adopt the cat after our race, but J got so excited that we dropped in to the Cat Adoption Team for a few hours, and walked out with a new kitten! Isn’t he cute!? (Sorry it’s blurry. He likes to play!)

His name is Desmond, or “Dez” for short. This might not have been our smartest move, since we have to keep him separated from our current cat (Charlotte), and we must sleep separately tonight! But we are so excited for our new family member! Hopefully he sleeps through the night, and we are rested enough for tomorrow… :P

Speaking of tomorrow, it is supposed to be the nicest day so far of the year, meaning a high of 82°! It has been raining and lingering around 60° for weeks now, and that is what we have been training in. I’m a little nervous about the heat, but hopefully we’re done quickly enough with the race that the heat won’t be a factor. Either way, as long as we finish (which I don’t think will be a problem) we will get a PR! Yay for free PRs! :)

As for our “goal time”, I’m trying not to keep anything specific in mind, since this is our first race at this distance, and the course is supposed to be a bit challenging. There are a few hills in the middle sections, and about a mile of gravel somewhat near the end. But I want to at least start with around 9:30 min/mi pace, and see where we go. I think that’s a safe enough pace to start with, and we shouldn’t burn ourselves out or anything, and we can always get faster! ;)

I’ll try to get a recap up as soon as I can tomorrow, after we chow down on our post-race food and drink (Helvetia Burger and Widmer Beer). Good luck to anyone else heading out tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll see you out there!