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You are here: Home / Running / The Morning of Your First Half Marathon

The Morning of Your First Half Marathon

Mighty Niagara Half Marathon prepLike most things, this half marathon spiraled into a fantastic day of family and friends. With the craziness of the week before, I had a plan all worked out so nothing was forgotten.

On Wednesday, I started the pile. That pile of stuff I needed to take or wear the day of. That pile, you know the one,  if you waited until the last minute, would be missing at least one essential item…

What exactly was that? So glad that you asked…

  • skort
  • sports bra
  • shirt
  • socks
  • sneakers
  • earphones
  • phone case
  • watch
  • road id
  • hat
  • bib
  • sunscreen
  • aquaphor & glide
  • sun glasses
  • change of clothes for after
  • Gu – one before, one midway, one just in case
  • trusty Burt’s Bees lip balm
  • extra sneakers & socks
  • phone

I know.. nothing new on race day but… I did try a Spibelt. Took a chance that it would work out and was willing to carry it if there was a problem. (BTW, it was GREAT!) So nice to have my lip balm, Gu and those extra tissues… just in case… somewhere dry and reachable.

Morning of started with coffee, toast with peanut butter and a banana at 6:30.

When I went back up to get dressed, having everything laid out was.. nice. Not having to think. I was calmly nervous, not having to think was good. Not to mention that we had a house full of people, also good. Many things to focus on.

Planning before hand helps me. Yup, I’m fine being a control freak. It’s ok, we all have something. I’ll take it.

Having it all laid out a couple days in advance let me toss things on the pile as I ran across them. By the time Saturday rolled around, it was all there. Didn’t forget anything.

We headed out at 7am for a 9:15am gun. There were some road closures that got us there earlier.

It was the perfect start.

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I'm a 50-something wife, mom and business woman. My planner tells me there are a few more roles... but that's a good start. I'm a techie and a small business owner who loves good coffee, dark chocolate & running in the rain. And an empty nester... While … more about About

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