Some last minute fretting

You know it's what we all do...fret a little (or A LOT) before THE BIG RACE (TBR from now on).

It doesn't seem to matter how many 1/2 Marathons I've done, in the days before TBR, my brain is a constant stream of questions...all easily answerable, but since the questions flit around in my brain, like, oh I don't know...fill in your favorite flitting around metaphor...I have only stopped to answer a few of them... because my brain has moved onto questions like...

1. What should I wear for the race?
2. What should I pack for the rest of the weekend?
3. What will the weather be like in San Francisco?
4. Do I need to bring a coat? (for the weekend, not the run...but now that I'm thinking about it)
5. Should I bring an old sweatshirt to the race, or just a plastic bag?
6. Should I check a bag or carry it on?
7. What electronic devices should I bring (What? I'm thinking about bringing my iPad...what were YOU thinking?)
8. Am I prepared for running 13 miles?
9. Have I done enough training to manage the hills?
10. Should I run with my camera? My iPhone? Both?
11. How should I carry those things?
12. How much Gu should I carry?
13. How will we get to the race in the morning (at the Butt-crack of dawn?)
14. Where should we eat?
15. What should I eat?
16. Who's sharing a bed?
17. Where will we eat after the run?

You know...that sort of stuff.

So tomorrow morning, Mik, Elsie and I are flying to SF and meeting up with Betty who started her drive up today. It should be a busy day...flying, expo. I'm hoping to meet up with some bloggers and NoCal friends and family along the way.

Thanks for indulging me the time to answer my questions (nothing focuses the brain like writing, right?)

1. NEON-DAY-GLO-IN-THE-DARK-LIME-GREEN running shirt is making a comeback...The Herd has decided that while the Yummy Yellow shirts are nice, they are nowhere near bright enough to enable us to find each other in a crowd. So we are back to the NEON-DAY-GLO-IN-THE-DARK-LIME-GREEN!
2. F if I know...I need to go do that next.
3. Cool - probably about 55 degrees at race time. Perfect running weather!
4. Who knows...probably a sweater, right?
5. Bag
6. Depends on the amount of product I end up packing. I have a problem with product. I know it. Whatever.
7. Uh...yeah, and the Garmin, and the iPod, and a camera, and chargers...you see why I have a problem packing lightly?
8. I think so. I just need to start slow and maintain a consistent pace. My biggest challenge is always about miles 6-8, where I feel pretty good and tend to speed up. I need to wait until I get to the 8th mile to pick up my pace. I'm hoping that all the hills will actually help me out with this.
9. Probably not.
10. iPhone camera takes reasonable pix in daylight, so maybe that's enough. Still, having a camera over the bridge might be nice. But let's be honest here. If I'm anywhere near a PR pace, and I think I will be, I am SO EFFING UNLIKELY to stop and take pix.
11. Spibelt...gotta remember to pack that...
12. 2
13. cab?
14. Ask a concierge...that's my strategy.
15. This is sooooo tough. I love SF. I love eating at local, little, unusual places and trying new foods. I will have to wait until AFTER the run on Sunday to do this however. I think tomorrow night has gotta be pasta night.
16. LOL
17. See #15...

At first, the SF 1/2 post-race info we received said that there would be a COMPLIMENTARY beer for all finishers, but it would be at the end of the Marathon/2nd Half Finish (at the Embarcadero). FYI...the 1st 1/2 ends in Golden Gate Park...even I (a non-local) can see that those two places are not particularly close to each other. I was bummed, but figured...ah well. 9:30 in the morning is a LITTLE early for a beer. I'd rather have a MIMOSA anyway.

Penny sent out a tweet last night that the end of the 1/2 Mary will have IRISH COFFEE for the 1st 1/2 finishers. 

So...thank you for reading through this REALLY BORING POST. I'm going to go pack now. Next update will be (perhaps) from SF!