Amy Lu's View

It’s one week until the Twin Cities Marathon! 

What I should do during this week to prepare:

• HYDRATE (I can’t successfully do it all in the hour or even day before the race)
• Drink less alcohol
• Make sure I don’t run too much
• Carbo-loading, starting on Wednesday or Thursday (also something I can’t helpfully do if I start the day before)
• Figure out my music situation (usually I run while listening to audiobooks, which I don’t want to do during the marathon because I want to pay at least some attention to the spectators and the scenery and the experience as a whole)
• Go to Target and buy a running tank top (it’s going to be warmer than I expected so I don’t have quite the right shirt)
• Adorn myself with motivational temporary tattoos

Things I should NOT do:

• Drink too much alcohol (idea deserves to be repeated)
• Feel discouraged because I think it will take me noticeably longer to finish this marathon than the previous three I’ve run
• Regret my training choices
• Regret my nutrition strategy (such as it is)
• Obsess about carbo-loading and hydrating related weight gain
• Worry that I won’t be able to find the drop-off point for my after-race clothes
• Dread how cold it’s going to be waiting for the race to start
• Worry that the port-a-potty lines will be terrible

Silly, but mostly harmless, although potentially annoying, things I WILL do:

• Check Sunday’s hourly-weather forecast compulsively
• Tell everyone I possibly can that I’m running the Marathon
• Babble at Chad incessantly about all my Marathon-related hopes, fears, and random thoughts

Something I really, truly, SHOULD do:

•  Try to feel more excited than anxious. 
• Feel extremely grateful that I have the health and time to train for and run a marathon.