Nervous, Excited, Nervous, Excited, Nervous, EXCITED!!

Just 3 days left until the Tour of Anchorage cross Country ski race in Anchorage. I've been training for this race all winter and am really excited to finally do it! The past week, I"m putting together all the final details and taking measures for the race that I"ve never taken before.

I've done the race two other times, and during those races-I was thrilled to finish. Well, this year I'd be thrilled to finish and I"d be MORE thrilled to take 1/2 hour off my time....to do the 25K in 2:30 as opposed to the 3:00HR I usually finish in. There have been many phone calls to Pauline (the trainer who developed my training program)--bless her heart for taking the time to answer my last minute questions...

"What do I eat? Do I drink at every break station? How hard should I start off? How will I know if I'm crashing or going to hard?" When Pauline and I sat down to talk about race specifics, my stomach turned up into knots with nervousness. But in a good way.
You see, the last two times, I didn't do a whole lot to prep. The last time I did the race Stuey was 1 year old and I was just thrilled to have enough energy to finish....much less thinking about race strategy.

So new to my Tour program this year is a fanny pack with 3 energy gels in it, and a very small list of split times to complete the 25K in 2:30. I plan on taping it on my sleeve. This way, at various points along the race, I can have some idea of whether I"m on target for my goal time. And as Pauline told me, "If you're not near your target and you're tired, its not a big deal. Don't worry about it. The biggest thing is not injuring yourself and feeling halfway decent at the finish."

Patrick has a different race philosophy...and he is doing his 50K race with different intentions then me. His philosophy is push yourself as hard as you possibly can every moment of the race without bonking. Patrick recalled asking his high school cross country ski coach how to pace yourself during a race and he replied, "Go as fast as you can. all the time" Yeah....I won't be doing that. However, if I'm half way through the race and on target with my times AND feeling good, then I will push myself outside my comfort zone a bit more...

Nora came home from preschool today and told me that at prayer request time, she asked her teacher (ms.Stephanie) to "pray that mommy and daddy make it across the finish line." This got big laughs out of me. Too cute! Nora senses all of our excitement over the weekend! She and Stuey are beyond excited about a weekend in Anchorage...

:) Zoya

Picture: Posing with my splits list and one of the goo packs...