Holding my breath

The weatherman is predicting rain, unseasonably warm  “feels like 22 degrees C” temperatures and, ummm,  50km/h winds for race day. Short of a miracle, it looks like it’s going to be a tough one.

Going into Sunday I feel physically and mentally stronger than I ever have. But I’d by lying if I told you I wasn’t crapping my pants a wee bit over these conditions. Of course, Dr. Stevil works hard to get our group over this exact hurdle (worrying about things that are out of our control) and has us run in all sorts of incremental weather — extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme rain, extreme snow. That way,  come race day, we’ve seen it all.  Or so he thought.

That bastard overlooked tornados!

And unluckily for me (and the thousands of other runners with me) I won’t be sitting in a comfy house with my dog on my lap watching it from the window.

I’ll be that witch on a bike… except I’ll be running and I’ll be in a singlet and shorts.

But enough moaning. I’m pushing away the negativity and staying positive. I’m trusting in my training, rereading pre-race pep talks ( here, here and here ),  visualizing my race and going over my plan — which is to stick to my pace and try to find a really husky person to run behind.

I’m also repeating my mantra. This time it’s “No Regrets”. I’m still hopeful that I’ll get my sub-4, but if I don’t, I want to know in my heart that I left it all out there. I want to know that when it started to hurt I didn’t stop and I didn’t talk myself out of it. I want to know that I crossed the finish without having another step in me.  I want to know that no matter what the result I gave it my best shot. That’s my ultimate goal. And that will make me happy.

And in the very least, I know I can rock the wind-blown look.

Stay tuned to sportstats for the results.

P.S Running the race or live in the Toronto area? Come see me at the race expo. I’m sitting on The Canadian Running panel talking about women’s running from 4:00 to 4:20pm on Friday and 11:30 to 11:50am on Saturday.

If you like my blog,  drop me a line and I’ll add you to my mailing list to let you know when updates are on the site. Don’t worry, your e-mail address will be safe with me and my best Nigerian banker friends. You can also follow me on Twitter @Couch2Kenyan.