I am tired. Less than 12 hours from now, I’ll be at the starting line for the Moose Mountain Marathon. I hope. I guess after what happened with Curnow I am convinced that even at this late hour something can go wrong. Especially since I felt crappy all afternoon. I had too much caffeine and not enough food, or something, and my heart rate’s been high. I spent a few hours volunteering at race check-in, handing out race t-shirts and answering questions and basically pretending this race isn’t going to happen, that it’s still at some far-off time in the future.

Denial ends tomorrow, I guess. Let’s just hope I can sleep.

Goals:
A Standard: 8:30:00
B Standard: 9:00:00
C Standard: 9:59:59

Same goals as Curnow. Based on my training runs, 10 hours is probably too conservative; I am not sure what would have to happen in order to be out there that long, but anything can happen. My left hamstring is tight and I’ve been off my feet since Monday trying to rest it. Maybe it’ll snap or something. Knock wood.

The usual non-pace-related goals apply: I don’t want to puke, become incontinent, pass out, or otherwise have a medical emergency. I want to avoid poison ivy and hypothermia. I don’t want to get swept. I want to pull myself out of tough mental or physical stretches of the race. I want to keep moving. That’s the mantra. Keep. Moving.

I’ve still got to lay out my race clothes and pack up my hydration pack. There’s an opportunity for drop bags, but I decided to simplify things and skip them. I’m going to carry most of what I need, and scavenge the aid stations for the rest. Then I’m going to crawl into bed and try to fall asleep early. Hahahaha.

Oh man, I just want to get through this race happy and healthy. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask.