It’s the final countdown…

Like I wasn’t already nervous and excited, I wake up to this text…..

Needless to say, I’m shakin’ in my running shoes!

To help settle some pre-race anxiety I went through my three favorite (and easy to follow) tips. Funny that these are the same three tips I followed before my first 5K. Boy have I come a long way..

1. Prepare- It’s VITAL to take care of yourself before a race. It’s not necessarily what you do the day of the race, but rather how you prepare BEFORE the race. Regardless of the distance of the race, make sure to stick to the routine. Don’t try and get fancy, just eat what you normally would before a run, stretch like you always have, and HYDRATE. Have everything laid out the night before so there are no last-minute search and rescue missions!

2. Breathe- When I get nervous my breathing becomes shallow.  This only makes things worse, especially when you’re trying to watch your heart rate. Take slow, deep breaths. I call these.. Yoga breaths. Relaxing, huh?

3. Smile- The hard part is over!!!!!  It always makes me feel better to smile, high-five, and wave at people during the race. It reminds me that racing is fun and I love running so why stress about the results? And, ALWAYS smile at the cameras and at the finish line because eventually those pictures will be on the Internet. 🙂

When I run through the finish line I know it won’t compare to anything I’ve ever done before. I’ll be an emotional wreck, but I think I have good reason for being that way. I keep getting stuck on the fact that I need to run my hardest the entire time, but I know that’s not true. When we decided to run the full instead of the half I promised myself I would enjoy the journey, and not stress about my time and I’m not going back on that promise. It can be tempting to hold yourself to too high of standards and to feel embarrassed if you don’t reach your “goal time” or feel like you’ll never make it to the end, but like John Bingham said, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

Country Music Marathon here I come!!!