Racing Plans & Blogger Meet-Ups!

So Half Marathon #12 - the Portland Rock 'n' Roll inaugural race - is TOMORROW!  Eek!  Where did the time go?!

But MORE IMPORTANTLY... TODAY is the Girls On the Run 5k!  I am way more excited for today than for tomorrow.  We have been working towards this for the last 10 weeks and I can't wait to see my girls meet their goals and feel so accomplished!  Being a Girls On the Run coach has been an amazing experience and I wish I could get paid the big bucks to do this full-time.

Second, thank you all SO much for all of your really helpful and insightful advice about my racing a half marathon vs. an extra 20 miler conundrum.  There were a few things I forgot to mention (or maybe meant to leave out, since I wanted your unbiased thoughts!).

1. I really really REALLY love to race half marathons.  It's pretty much my favorite thing to do, despite the inevitable pain.  And I REALLY wanted to race this one even though I still don't think a PR is likely, but I wanted to try. Plus, it would give me some good information about what my true goal time for the marathon should be (is a 3:45 really possible?) and help me hone in my pacing plan.  Not that I really know anything about any of that, I just pretend like I do. 
2. Logistical issues.  I'm pretty much 100% against tacking on the extra miles after the race (that seems like it defeats the purpose of making the long run "easier") and getting to the race with enough time to do an extra 7 miles before hand seems like a bit of a logistical problem, given my wonderful husband will probably drive us (oh, is this the first you're hearing about this JMan?!), and that Anya will be there as well and doesn't need to run 20.  Anyway, the logistics aren't perfect.
3. I didn't leave this out because it hadn't happened yet, but by now you're all familiar with the loss of my running mojo last week.  This is definitely a factor in the equation at this point.  

So what, you might ask?  Well many of you gave me the same piece of advice: See how you feel on race day morning.  And that's exactly what I'm going to do.  I'm not planning on running 20 miles though.  But I might add on some extra miles, I might just go at a leisurely pace, I might Marathon-Goal-Pace it, I might go all out.  We'll see how I feel and how my running mojo is fairing that morning.  Smart?

Finally - if you're going to Portland Rock n Roll, or live in the area, or are coming to cheer someone (or me!) on, please come to the BLOGGER MEET-UP!  You don't have to be a blogger.  :-)  It's easy - it's after the race at Voodoo Donuts at 22 Southwest 3rd Avenue, it's about 8 blocks from the finish, a nice little cool-down.  We'll plan to be there at about 11:00am.  That's assuming the corrals don't make us start long after 8:00am.

Best donut-of-all-time - how I've missed thee.  We shall be reunited and it will feel so good. 

Happy Weekend!  What fun things are you doing this weekend?  How far are you running?  Are you racing?  Are you coming to meet me at Voodoo Donuts?!  :-)