Less than a week and ready to go!

The big race is less than a week away and I've got a healthy dose of excitement and nervousness going on. I think I've done well with my training and only get slightly nauseated at the thought of my longest leg. My thighs are already quivering at the thought of a 6.8 mile stretch all down hill. If you live in the Reno area then you are familiar with Geiger Grade. My leg (Leg 33) has me running down pretty much the entire thing. While downhill running might sound easy (hey, it's all downhill!) it's actually murder on your quadriceps. I imagine that Monday at work I'll be begging for a piggyback up the stairs to get to my classroom. Perhaps the custodian will load me up on a dolly and cart me up there if I ask him nicely.

We've gotten our supplies in order and it's starting to look like we actually know what we're doing. It's actually quite difficult planning for a 24+ hour race when you've never done one before. There's lots of information on the RTO website and a few of our teammates have run the race in the past so we've been relying on all of that expertise (shout out to Nico-hollah!). Still, there's always a little part of me that wonders, "Do we have enough stuff? Are we bringing the right stuff?" Guess there's only one way to find out.

The RTO makes safety their number one priority. As such, regulations on mandatory nighttime gear are pretty strict. To keep with the rules Don and I both got ourselves reflective vests, headlamps and reflective wristbands. We took them out for a test run earlier in the week and once I managed to look at RoboDon without having to pee my pants from laughing so hard it wasn't a bad run. It shouldn't be too bad during the race.

We also had to think about our food/drinks while out on the course. We hit R.E.I. to pick up a few different kinds of energy gels (shudder) to see which ones would be palatable. The GU brand was a huge disappointment. They were overly sweet and had a very grainy texture. They also left a lingering gummy feeling in my mouth that left me needing more water than if I hadn't had any of the GU. Upon the recommendation of a friend of mine who is an ultra runner we tried Hammer Gel. It wasn't bad. The flavor (raspberry) was yummy and the texture didn't make me feel like I had a booger in my mouth. Win-Win! Hammer Gels it is! We also tried a chocolate concoction called #9 that was super tasty! It wouldn't be very good during a run but we picked up a few pouches for a sweet treat while we're chilling in the van.

All in all, the only true test of our preparedness will come when we're actually out there next weekend. Our start time is 11:30 Friday morning. We should be finished by 4:30 Saturday afternoon. I will be posting information and pictures during the race on Twitter so follow me-my username is roguepixie.

I hope to post once more before race day but if not, wish me luck!!