Omaha Marathon Pre-Race Prep

Holy cow, can you believe the marathon is already over?! I can't. It was mostly a blur. Well, except for those 6 horrific miles at the end. But I'll get back to that. Let's start at the beginning. Or even before that.

Katie and I were in our good friends' wedding this weekend, which meant our weekend was crazy busy. We had the rehearsal and dinner on Friday night,  then decorating, the wedding, pictures, and the reception on Saturday. Amongst all of that I needed to make it to packet pickup and get everything ready for the marathon on Sunday morning while trying to stay off of my feet as much as possible and make sure I was eating and drinking properly. Luckily, I'm a master of list-making.

Yep, that is a 3-day checklist for marathon prep. Trust me, this is the only way I was able to sleep this weekend. Once things were checked things off, I could put them out of my mind. Definitely necessary for this busy weekend!

Once I got everything set out, I had piles of stuff all over the house.

My race clothes and shoes (shirt with bib attached, sports bra, shorts, knee brace, toe guards, socks, and sneakers)

Other accessories and personal items (sunscreen, contacts, visor, sunglasses, head band, hair ties, hair clips, Sportslick, Tylenol, lip balm, and sweat bands)

A post-race bag (long-sleeved t-shirt, short-sleeved t-shirt, capris, underwear/bra, socks, shoes, hand towel, wipes, and deodorant)

A bag for Katie to carry, in case I needed anything along the course (extra gels, gummy bears, dried apricots, water, Gatorade, band aids, moleskin, Sportslick, sunscreen, paper towels, hand towel, camera, extra memory card, and a copy of the course map.)

I laid out all of the stuff I would wear or carry in my pockets (dried apricots, gummy bears, 2 gels, paper towels, Garmin and ipod)

I also laid out my breakfast (English muffin, peanut butter, a banana, and water)

I ducked out of the reception around 9:30...about a half an hour later than I had planned, but I wanted a chance to dance with the groom,who has been a good friend of mine for many, many years. I made it through the night without a single drop of alcohol. To be honest, I wasn't worried about my willpower until they were making a champagne toast. Luckily a couple members of the wedding party were not yet 21, so there were bottles of sparkling cider, too! Bubbly grape juice was the perfect compromise.

Once I got home, I ate some pasta that I had prepared earlier, knowing I'd probably need some more fuel. Then I finished up the last of my prep work and checked the weather one last time before heading to bed.

Sunday was expecting a low of 47 and a high of 68 with clear skies. Pretty perfect marathon weather, if you ask me! The fact that I was still up at 11:00pm is a little disturbing, but I actually had no trouble falling right to sleep. This is MUCH different than my first marathon. I tossed and turned all night, not remembering a single minute of sleep before the Richmond marathon. Although I was up later than I would have preferred, I got 6 full hours of sleep, which is pretty darn good!

Checklist mastered, wedding conquered, beautiful forecast, and solid sleep. I'd say I was in pretty good shape!