Final Countdown to the 15th

I know, I know, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a little like a kid waiting for his birthday party or Christmas, but after months of training and plotting and planning, race day is only 12 days away. The reason for today's spike of anticipation was the arrival in my email box of various confirmations, final instructions, etc. from the organizors of the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio Marathon. I'm assigned to corral 20, perhaps a slight improvement over last year though, frankly, I don't remember which group I started with in 2008.

The race isn't officially filled yet, though I can't imagine there being too many more half marathon slots. The overall cap is 30000 runners. I think in the end analysis last year, there were something like 26 thousand participants. I love running in such a huge field, but I know some other runners who complain about the logjams at aid stations and the inadvertant contact of runners who aren't experienced in some of the etiquite of running crowded races, primarily to give other runners their space and to not cut in front of your fellow participants at the water stations. To each his own in terms of running in a crowd or not, but I love the energy of such a mass of mostly fit athletes putting their feet to the pavement in a constant patter of delightful softshoe which would make even Fred Astaire take note. The starting line is a special place, made even more eventful by the anticipation of so many runners setting out on an extraordinary odyssey. I'm looking forward to the 15th with gleeful anticipation.

I have stated rather publicly on several occasions that my goal this year is 4 hours 45 minutes. I must have been a little less sure of myself last November when I entered this year's race. I notice in the confirmation notice which came in the email today that I stated my predicted 2009 finish as 4:55. Vamos a ver (we will see), as we used to say in Mexico. Mother Nature can be a cruel partner this time of year in South Central Texas, or she can be our greatest ally. It's still a little too far out for an accurate extended forecast, but I am sure I won't be the only one paying attention to Steve Browne (KSAT 12) or Jennifer Broome (News 4 WOAI) come next week. Let's cross our fingers for a cool, dry day for running.