A day of rest

The Virginia Beach Half Marathon is less than two days away. Thanks to all the well wishes from everyone before the race.

I have taken a vacation day today to rest, be with Dori, get the leg worked on and piddle a little around the house. Anne and I leave in the morning for VB, and Dave Baum and Dan Flagler will be picking us up at the airport.

My family and friends who know me well know that I am very competitive. I don't like to lose or fail. I can be stubborn about it, though I've mellowed over the years. But the fire is always in you. I've had athletic failures in my life, but wonderful successes, like my high school golf team winning the state, my Navy base basketball team beating the Marines in the championship (on an injured leg, BTW) and others. It would be nice to add a PR (personal record) to the list.

I am hell-bent on getting this leg as ready as possible so I can run 13.1. Dori is an inspiration, and 150 friends and family are supporting LLS. I've trained very well, never eaten better in my life, gotten adequate sleep ... and still, I have this leg thing looming over the whole weekend. I have been stretching continually the last week and hope the massage today loosens up the calf for Sunday.

I found a few interesting links about the race. This article says it all, and this quote sums up what the race means to me and so many:

"A lot of time when people set out to run these things, some things stand in their way. But if your doing it for charity, or maybe even for a specific person, it's just that much more of a motivator to get you up at 6 in the morning and run," said Erin Gaul, race spokeswoman.

Or 4:15 in the morning.

I also found a link to a virtual tour of the course, which I found very cool. Enjoy, and happy Labor Day!