Pre-Race Thoughts

Tomorrow, Will and I will be running in the 46^th annual Paavo Nurmi Marathon. The race was named after, the Finnish athlete/Olympian and 7x gold medalist Paavo Johannes Nurmi, aka the “Flying Finn”.

I have to say that I love small races! In a lot of ways, Hurley reminds me of Monte Rio; the small town feel is great!  The packet pick-up and expo were held in the local high school, in addition to a pasta feed for runners their families/friends. We opted not to join in the dining experience in the high school cafeteria. I should also mention that the 5k runners and the half marathoners were able to pick up their shirts at the expo, but we will not get our race shirts until we FINISH the marathon.

A picture says a thousand words...

 

Race Expo

 

Pasta Feed

While the race website promises beautiful scenery and great spectators, I am somewhat skeptical. We drove along the course and all I can say is that I hope the clouds show up in full force tomorrow. The forecast call for highs in the upper 70’s L.

I am feeling unprepared and scared. On paper, my training plan says I am good to go. In reality, the past two shake out runs and my current state say differently. Let’s hope the race gods are on my side tomorrow.

The plan is to race smart AND negative split. I would like to go out at 7:50 – 8:00 miles and see where the race takes me. I hope that Will plans to stick with me for the first 10 or so. However, if you have read about his recent training, you may not think that’s the best idea.

The ceremonial torch. We saw the lighting ceremony parade from inside the restaurant :).

Stay tuned for the race report.