Do you know the way to San Jose?

…..I do , and I always get lost when I drive through the downtown area:-D

San Jose is about an hour south of where I live and that’s where I’m heading out to in a few minutes. I’m gonna have lunch with my Mom and Sister who live in south San Jose, and then I’m heading over to the Expo and convention center which is located downtown, to pick up my bib and goodie bag. While there, I’m hoping to cross paths with a few friends who are flying into town to do this race.

On Sunday of course, I gotta drive back down there again to do the actual race. I gotta get there early enough to find parking and early enough for a quick pre-race get -together with all my friends. The race starts at 8am, so I’ll probably try to get there by 6am, which means I gotta leave my house at 5am, which means I gotta get up at 4 am, which means I gotta get to bed by 9pm.

I’m not sure why I always go to bed early the eve of a race. It never works. No one ever really sleeps the night before a big race. You’re just too psyched up. There’s too much nervous energy…. too much adrenalin. Race strategies and what-if scenarios will keep my brain hopping all night. It’s kinda like having stage fright, even though you’re going to be sharing that same stage with 10,000-12,000 other people .

Then there’s the getting up at 4am to do get dressed routine. I don’t know about other people, but this has become a ritual for me. Do I want my Bib on my shirt or my pant leg? Will it be too hot to wear this, or will it be too cold to wear that? Do I have a place to carry all my stuff? Do I have enough inhalers in case I loose one on the course ( which has happened)? Are the batteries in my portable neb machine charged? Is my Mp 3 player charged? Do I have my timing chip on correctly? Then there’s the fuel checklist; Should I eat something, should I start hydrating now? What If I have muscle cramps? Are there going to be enough porta potties on the course? and on and on……This nonsense usually goes on until it’s time to head out to the venue.

Finally there’s what I call the ” pre-race jitters”. These symptoms usually starts to emerge when I’m actually out there in the morning air, standing in a mile long line hoping to use the porta potty one last time before the race gun goes off. Either that, or when they have you packed like sardines in the starting corrals and you hope not to get trampled to death. For me the feeling is usually that of…. “what have I gotten myself into” ? “Did I train enough” ” Will I be able to pull this off?” ” I hope I went to the bathroom enough”. Crazy huh? But, once you get moving and the pack thins out…its all good! This is moment you’ve trained for. Just put yourself on autopilot and soak it all in.

And now for the exciting news! My Pulmonologist at UCSF is putting her money where her mouth is, she is going to and do the race with me …How cool is that!! And even more cool news; Racewalking friend and blogger Dizzy Miss Lizzy is flying out from Denver just to do this race. I can’t wait to meet her. Shes staying at a hotel located right across the street from the race starting line. She’s invited a bunch of us to meet up there and hang out before the race!

There going to have a webcam set up at the Finish line that you can view live on the day of the race. See if you can spot me. I hope to cross it between 11:10-11:37 am (pst)

I’m not the only one that’s racing this Sunday. Kerri and Danielle who live in Canada are doing charity races and Tammy in Utah is doing her first Portland Marathon . Good luck to everyone ! or as they say in Italy….. “In boca al lupo!”