Grandma’s Marathon: Race morning anticipation

I woke up before my alarm on race day (as per always!), feeling fresh and ready (as per never this season since this was the first race I tapered for!).  Since there was an elite bus departing straight from my hotel, Jon and Albani didn't have to wake up early and I got ready quietly while they slept.  It was silent and a little lonely, but I was glad they didn't have to be up at 5:00 a.m.  I checked the weather (51 degrees/100% humidity), ate, drank, dressed, pinned on my bib, foam rolled, double checked my gear bag, and took a final look at my phone before leaving it for Jon and heading down to the hotel lobby.

I took this to send to my parents so they'd
be able to spot my outfit, but it's my only
pre-race photo!

I met Michelle in the hotel lobby, and we waited for a few minutes in a crowd of elites before boarding the coach bus that would drive us out 26.2 miles so we could run back - a little ironic, right?  I was calmly excited.

The bus dropped us off near the elite staging area, and I bundled up to stay warm until I started my warm up.  I looked around in awe at the other elites and chatted with Michelle and Jamie.  When I was sitting in the elite tent, I felt warm and started worrying that the sun was going to make things steamy by our 7:45 a.m. start, but when I exited the tent I realized how much warmer it was inside it than out.

I did my usual easy mile warm-up and some drills and glute activation, then made a final bathroom stop.  At that point many elites were a little frantic because the organizers were announcing that we needed to get to the starting line before the wheelchair races set out, which was 5 minutes earlier than everyone had planned.  I felt like I was ahead of many others in the process (several people were changing shoes or waiting in line for the bathroom still), so didn't worry as I dropped my gear bag.  I spotted Nichole and waited for her to drop her gear bag so we could get on the starting line together.

We lined up towards the front but far enough back to avoid getting pulled out too fast.  The sun was shining, which made for a picturesque start.  Without any fanfare, we were sent on our way!  26.2 miles back to where we started!