While at the expo, a man got in line behind (or, to be more precise, next to) me, and asked me if I was running the race. I hope my face did not say what my brain thought: why would I be in line here, if not? (Maybe he thought I was with the guy in front of me; if so, that's irritating.) I told him yes, and he said "Great!" Then it was my turn to be helped, and I left him there after I got my packet. He turned up again a little bit later, after I had confirmed that the chip on the bib was functioning correctly and was buying a handful of gels that I will use in the race. Right at my shoulder, he said, "Do those work?" I told him that they do work, or maybe it's all in my head, but either way I seem to have a less awful time getting through the final 6-10 miles if I use them. He said that if I endorse them, then he might just try them -- what was the best flavor? What did I have? Salted caramel? He would try those.
Yikes, dude! I tried to tell him that I wouldn't recommend using them for the first time on race day! Some people's systems do not respond favorably to these and I tested them out over several long and/or tough workouts to see how my insides would deal with them. I am not sure he quite heard me, and I decided to just get out of there. I don't want him to really remember what I look like so that he can blame me if he tries them for the first time tomorrow and has to drop out because he gets an upset stomach.
This morning, I got up around 7 and went out for the short, easy run that I did not do yesterday. I jogged along the path by the lakefront that will be the site of the final miles of the race. A great deal of activity going on down there -- tents being set up, a train of trucks bringing porta-potties, getting ready for some sort of kid's fun run, etc. It was kind of exciting, coming back after going out for 15 minutes, to pass by the grassy space which is where the finish line will be -- I'll be there a little more than 24 hours from now, I hope. The half hour confirmed that my legs do, in fact, still know how to run, they are still fine, there are no heretofore-undiscovered injuries that decided to make themselves known today. I also confirmed that it is, in fact, quite warm, and that there is no getting around it, it's going to be absolutely unpleasant tomorrow. Given the forecast is not likely to dramatically change for the better in the next 24 hours, I think the best that I can hope for is that it will be cloudy. I won't waste time hoping it will be cooler. There is a long out-and-back portion in the first half of the race that will be completely exposed to the sky, and if the sun can just stay covered up at least for that part, it will go a long way. My recollection of the course is that most of the rest of the run will have some degree of cover, and the race has announced they will have extra water, ice, sprinklers, etc. in the later parts to help alleviate the heat-related misery. So, sun -- while I generally love you very much -- please stay tucked away behind clouds tomorrow, at least until noon? Thanks!
The high is predicted to be 85F, with a low of 66F, and a race-start temperature of 72F. That is way outside the range of good, and I have pretty much no experience this spring running in anything that hot. But I have no control over it, obviously, and I am (I hope) smarter than I was in Boston in 2012 when I foolishly shrugged off the warning about the heat. I have time goals for tomorrow, but I'm going to try to be sensible about trying to reach them.
There are a couple "tries" in that statement because there have been times when no matter how hard I work to stay controlled, I have let myself get swept up in things. I can only promise that I will TRY not to. 2012 wasn't so long ago that I have completely forgotten what it was like to be so stupid, and I hope the memory of that will be strong enough to hold me back if I need to.
So, today: lots of water drinking, carb it up for lunch and dinner, lots more water-drinking, and get to the starting line fresh and ready to run in the heat. I just can't worry about it. I hate the phrase "It is what it is" because it's used too much to excuse things that shouldn't be excused, but in this case it really is what it is, and I will run how I can without destroying myself the way I did in 2012. If I start feeling like I did that time, I will drop out.
One last glass-half-empty moment: I really wish I had been able to get at least one 22-er in this training cycle. It didn't work out for different reasons and even though a 22-er isn't necessary, it's just beneficial for the mental battle to know I've gone over that 20-mile hill. But I just can't worry about that, either. That cannot be changed and there is nothing that can be done about it now. I did a number of solid and tough 19-20s, so I can focus on that. And now that that last little negativity is done, let's be as positive as I can be, facing a broiler: the marathon is unpredictable, even on days when the weather is ideal. You can have some idea of how it should play out, but sometimes things go wildly differently -- in both directions. If I run smart, I can still finish well.
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