Atlanta Half Marathon 2011 Prep

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome shirt for a Thanksgiving Day half marathon!

The Atlanta Half Marathon 2011 is the day after tomorrow!  I went to pick up my race number today at the Health and Fitness Expo at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.  I  just browsed around quickly at the Expo because there were way too many tempting running goodies there for me to spend my money on.  But, I did get a pretty snazzy long sleeved technical shirt for signing up for the half marathon that just screams "This race is in the Autumn!".  They also had a few running seminars going on but I arrived too late for the Nutrition for Novice Runners seminar which was probably pretty informative.  I checked my race number only to find that I had a pretty cool and easy to remember number.

My lucky number? I hope so.

 
I'm taking it easy today and tomorrow and I'm only doing some stretches and a bit of yoga to loosen up for the half marathon.  I've found that I run better when I've had a couple of days of rest. So many of these running plans have short runs scheduled for the two days leading up to the race, but I find a walk and stretches to work better for me.  I just hope my legs get well rested by Thursday.  I did a strength training leg workout on Sunday and a 4 mile run which still has my legs sore.  I thought I wasn't pushing myself too hard, but apparently I was mistaken.  The soreness should be gone by Thursday though so I'm not too worried about it.  I did an upper body strength training workout and a two mile walk at an incline yesterday to get in a  good calorie burn and to take it easy on the legs.  Let's hope my strategy this week pays off.

I've already decided that this 13.1 mile race will be run for fun.  I'm not going to set a time goal or try to get a PR.  After all, my last half marathon was on a scenic course with gently rolling hills and this race will have tougher hills to manage.  Most importantly, it's Thanksgiving, so I don't want to be so worn out that I can't enjoy the holiday afterward.  Now, if I can only remind myself during the race to just have fun, everything should go fine. :D