Gulf Coast 1/2 Marathon Here I Come!

Yippee!! It’s race weekend! Racing is arguably my favorite part of running.  I know I’ve said this before, but I love everything about it.  From preparing for the race, to packet pickup and all the swag at the expo (I ❤ free stuff!), to soaking in the nervous energy as all the runners are waiting in our corrals.  I. just. love. it!

This weekend I’m off to Mandeville, Louisiana, to run the Gulf Coast 1/2 Marathon.  I haven’t run this one before but I’ve heard nothing but great things about the course; it snakes through some pretty scenic parts of LA.

Fingers crossed the course goes by lots of historic homes.
-Source-

I have my checklist printed out and ready to get packing when I get home.  I know it’s oober nerdy but I will inevitably forget something (more likely multiple somethings) if I don’t have a checklist.  What can I say? I’m a spontaneous planner…

The plan of attack this weekend is supposed to be running the 1/2 like I would a normal training run.  With the marathon coming up in 2 weeks it would be silly of me to exhaust my legs by trying to PR.  What’s that? You noticed the “supposed” in the first sentence? Yeah, that’s because I know myself well enough to know that I’m not going to follow the long easy run advice and I’m going to try to PR.  *exasperated sigh*

On the plus side, my current PR is a not very speedy 2:14:47 (this was from my 1st half 7 months ago).  On the down side, I’ve been training for a marathon and not working on my 1/2 marathon speed.  I guess we’ll see what happens.  Mark my words, a sub 2 hour 1/2 will be mine in 2013!

So what am I going to be listening to as I try to PR complete my long, easy run? Well thanks to your wonderful suggestions, these songs have been added to my playlist:

• My Body by Young the Giant (Thanks Megan!)
• Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock-n-Roll (Thanks Ms. Belva!)
• Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide by Shine Down (Thanks Nicole!)
• Tubthumping by Chumbawamba (Thanks Dad! <3)
• Just a Girl by No Doubt (Thanks Kat!)
• Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons (Thanks Amanda!)
• Strange Clouds by B.O.B (Thanks Carrie!)

Thanks for all the suggestions y’all! Can’t wait to randomly fist pump or bust a move to them this Sunday!

Question:  Who else is racing this weekend? Any 5k’s, 10k’s, 1/2 or even full marathons – I want to hear about your awesome plans!