Preparing for the Utah Valley Marathon!

After a mini road trip across Colorado and Utah, Jeff and I (along with the rat dogs) arrived in Provo, UT and started our “day-before a marathon” routine. 

We checked into our hotel, dropped off Jay and Elle, and headed to the expo for the Utah Valley Marathon.  The expo was small and we were in and out with our race bibs and T-shirts.  We decided to eat some Italian for lunch, gelato for dessert (I have a strange superstition that need gelato the day before a marathon, I think I am 8 for 9), and then back to the hotel to check on the dogs.

While back at the hotel I noticed that my T-shirt was for HALF marathon, and I am doing the FULL!  So back to the expo to get the correct race T-shirt. 

As I was walking into the expo, I bumped into the author of a blog I follow, Hungry Runner Girl.  She is how I actually heard about this particular marathon and after asking her about the course several months back and she said it was PR conducive/awesome scenery, I signed up (plus it was within driving distance, 8 hrs, of Denver).  Thanks Hungry Runner Girl!!!!

She is actually the first blogger that I have ever met in real life…. I always wondered if bloggers were what I imagine them to be.  Well, she set the bar high, because she is just as genuine, nice, and engaging as she is on her blog.  It was such a pleasure to meet her and her husband. They are two awesome people who have many adventures ahead of them (baby on the way, moving across the country) and it will be so much fun to continue following their journey, especially after meeting them!

Jeff and I then decided to drive the marathon course, something I have done before and like to do.  We are SO glad we did this…. we now know what to expect and are even more stoked about the race.  The course is absolutely GORGOUS!  Plus it is mostly downhill, with maybe 3 longer hills in the first half of the marathon. 

 See, how amazing are these views?!?  If it stays cool and the wind is not too bad (both these are concerns at this point), things will go our way.  There is a potential for it to be windy, but you can’t control the weather…… so fingers crossed the wind is calm between 6-9:30 tomorrow morning.

On our way home we walked around the BYU campus (beautiful!) and then grabbed spaghetti from Olive Garden to share back at the hotel.  We just finished getting everything laid out (including finalizing our music playlists, yep I am particular about things) and prepared for the morning and are laying down to sleep.  Tomorrow morning will be here before we know it!  Oh and we have to catch the bus to the start by 4:15…. way too early!

Good night, hopefully I have good things to report tomorrow!  If not, then there is always the next marathon :)