When I wake up tomorrow, I get to live my dream! Sunday is the P.F. Chang’s Phoenix Rock n’ Roll Marathon, my FIRST marathon :) I’ve been dying to run an official 26.2 miles since I began high school cross country and started training for this race specifically in October.

Today my best friend drove us to Phoenix. Tempe, actually. {Pit stop at Sprouts for snacks and Starbucks for caffeine} We were southbound! I played DJ in the car, jammin out to some Daughtry, Miley, Elli Goulding, Avicii and obviously Eminem. If you passed two white girls (not so) hardcore rapping in a Corolla along the I-17, that was probably us:

First stop: convention center to pick up my racing bib, race shirt and shwaggggg bag. I’m in Corral #1 which means I get to start in the first wave of the race! Front Row, Yo!

There were dozens of booths for running gear and shoes which we bypassed, strictly focused on the vendors with samples ;) You know you do this too! We filled up on larabars, PowerBars, Jelly Belly sports beans, granola bites, snap pea crisps, and cereal cups.

Time for real food! We headed back to the hotel with my parents for lunch and a SHAKEOUT:

*** Shake-out: *** the concept of a shake-out run was introduced to me in college. Either the morning of or the evening before a serious race, a shake-out is an easy, comfortable-paced jog of a few miles in order to get your muscles loose and ready to perform.

Kerri accompanied me on a 3-miler around our Tempe hotel and it felt GLORIOUS. My legs wanted MORE but they will have to wait til tomorrow ;)

Since this is my first marathon experience I wanted to make sure I packed everything I needed.

• Band-aids of every shape & size
• Ibuprofen (& Tylenol)
• iPod, charger, and arm-band
• Garmin
• Gu fuel packs
• Race confirmation sheet & ID
• 4 different race outfits (for every type of weather, duh)
• RUNNING SHOES (seems obvious but I’ve forgotten these for a track meet before & was forced to make a quick purchase at JCPenney’s….never again)
• Pre-race breakfast of banana, oatmeal, coffee
• Plenty of hair ties
• Sport-specific sunscreen

One cool feature of the race is it’s partnership with competitor.com that will post my mid-race time splits on my Facebook page, as well as text my registered family & friends with my current distance and time. Even when they can’t see me, they’ll be in the loop of how I’m doing.

Pre-race dinner:

I wanted something pretty basic but full of carbs. The night before a 26.2 mile outting, I’m not too concerned with calories. My Phoenix friend Chelsea met my family, Kerri & I at Ruby Tuesday’s. Got my fill of pasta! :) Time to get some sleep, rest up for my little run tomorrow… Post-race recap to come <3