National Marathon Countdown: T-minus 3 days

Only three days to go now and the race day preparations have to begin already....there are many things that need to be arranged and sorted so that race day can go without a hitch.

First off, when to shave, both face and legs need to be shaved. However they need to be done just at the right time to ensure that they are smooth for race day but also not recent enough to be irritated by sweat!

Second, clothing choices, by now I know what clothes I am going to race in and it needs to be out of the clothing basket and cleaned (Sarah is the cleaning wiz so she is an important part of the race day build-up).

Third, is packet pickup and Friday night preparation, we need to head down to DC after work to pick up all the race packet stuff (bib number, t-shirt other goodies)...making sure to make it short and sweet and not spend much time on my feet.

Fourth, know the race route, I can generally follow the person in front or the lead bike :-) but Sarah likes to get out and about on the course rather than standing around at the start/finish for hours. I have begun to map a route so that Sarah can see me the max amount of times.

Fifth, complete your scheduled workouts and get some rest, this week has been all about recovery and I had my first complete day off yesterday since back in early February. A few more short workouts to go and I should be ready for Saturday morning.

Sixth and final item,, be confident and believe in the training that got me to the start line. Envision what a good race will feel like and what result I want out of it. This is no time to back off and be chicken! Give it everything and a little more.......the confidence gained from a good result will be huge for the bigger races to come.

Three days and counting!