This weekend. This weekend. This weekend! Gah! My very first half marathon is this weekend. So, you can imagine my concern when I woke up feeling absolutely horrid yesterday morning. Uh-oh.

Must. Not. Get. Sick.

As the day went on, I realized that I didn’t feel feverish and my morning congestion went away. I was simply left with a massive headache and intense lower back pain. I coerced Peter into giving me a long (and painful) massage last night and it seems to have helped. Now I just need to get caught up on the tons of sleep my body apparently craves. I’ve slept more than normal recently, but my body still feels exhausted and in need of more more more sleep. I sincerely hope I’m not fighting something off and wind up sick come this weekend. Eeep!

Although not getting sick isn’t the only concern I face with the race. On the whole, I feel well prepared and trust my training. I don’t doubt I can run the 13.1 miles and do so strongly. I do, however, wonder about a few other areas.

The Crowds

23,000 people will race the Savanna Rock N Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. 23,000! That sounds unreal to me! Every race I have done so far doesn’t have many crowds at all. How long will I feel like a packed sardine? How long will it take before I can find my stride? How will I manage finding Peter and the many other friends I plan to see at the race? How will I handle transportation to the race?!

Planned remedy: Use the crowds for energy! Also, plan ahead for race morning travel with lots of extra time and have set meeting places for post-race.

Loop vs Out and Back

I run all of my runs in an out and back fashion. We don’t have any areas that allow for going down various streets that connect for a nice loop. My area isn’t uber runner friendly. I actually like the out and back paths though because, mentally, I feel stronger with a mental image of what to expect on the remainder of my run. Sometimes, I have felt discouraged not knowing what lay ahead or exactly how much longer I have in other races.

Planned remedy: Study the course map beforehand and enjoy the scenery and bands along the way!

Hills?

I’m not very good reading a coarse elevation map. I do know that almost all of my long runs happened on a running pathway that has only one moderate hill and a few small hills. That looks like a pretty good, steady incline from mile 4.5 to mile 8…but only around 70 feet in elevation changes is nothing, right?

Planned remedy: Even if the run is hilly, I trained on killer hills many, many times during other runs of my training.

Traveling

I feel so nervous that I will forget something key, like my shoes, and not realize it until I’m five hours away from home in Savannah. I’m pretty good at having a scattered brain…especially when packing in a hurry, which never fails to happen with two kids.

Planned remedy: Make a list. Do a mental run through of everything I need while checking my bags. And remember a huge race has a huge expo, if I do forget anything. Oh – and WEAR my shoes when traveling so I don’t leave those.

Looking at my few concerns makes me feel better actually. I see I can have it somewhat under control and that what really matters, the running, will happen no matter what. I got this!!! Savannah, watch out. I’m ready!

• What ways do you calm nerves before a big event?
• Are you a well-planned or forgetful packer?

As I’m sure you have heard by now – it’s November. We have only two months left in the year. Hard to believe, huh? At least October went out with a bang! Are you ready to read about a stellar new workout and get an overload of cuteness?

I kicked off my last day of October with a frightfully good workout. Since I knew we had plans for the afternoon ahead, I hauled my booty to the gym to spend some quality time with the treadmill again. But first – a new workout!

The compound moves in a continuous fashion really had me sweating. I loved the use of the resistance band in this workout too. Always fun to mix things up!

Since I had such a sweat going from the circuit (and a little ole thing called a half marathon this weekend), I kept things light when I hit the treadmill. I didn’t mess around with speed work to entertain myself on the treadmill. I just set the speed at 6.2 and kept on running until I hit four miles.

I’m happy to report that my foot finally feels completely normal again. You may recall the top of my foot feeling sore after a long run a little over a week ago. It would still feel a little tender at times, which had me worried. I looked into it and found numerous suggestions to tie my shoes differently.

I followed this guide on Runner’s World and laced my shoes up in a parallel fashion.

No more pain! Who knew such a simple change could work such wonders? I guess trading in my old shoes for the new pair I had waiting for me helped too.

Most of the rest of the day proceeded normally – laundry, play time with the kids, getting work done during nap times, and so on. Then came the night and the excitement picked up considerably.

You thought I was going to dive right into the cuteness, didn’t you? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but excitement for me meant starting the night with a heaping bowl of chili.

I made Kelly’s recipe for chili (because I know she does a good one) and loved every Frito and cheese topped bite. Some things just need the old-school toppings.

Now that you have waited ever so patiently, time for trick-or-treating…

…and the corresponding explosion of adorable.

This season is easily my favorite time of year because I simply cannot get enough of the many family activities.

You can’t help but have some of the kid excitement rub off on you.

Makenzie had an absolute blast trick-or-treating since this was the first year she fully understood the process. Which also meant Peter and I had to be a little sneakier about nabbing a few pieces from her stash. You know you would do it, too!

Butterfinger, Reeses, and Twix make good race fuel, right?

She obviously has plenty. Today I will be sorting through it all, pulling out a small stockpile of her favorites (Dum Dums) and our favorites (above) for special treats, then donating the rest to Makenzie’s preschool. They are taking donations to send to the troops to have for treats and also to pass out to kids where they are stationed. Isn’t that cool? And friendly to the whole holiday maintenance balance thing. Win win situation for all!

• Favorite: Halloween candy? Costume? Holiday?
• What’s a surprisingly simple fitness tip that has made a big difference before for you?