Blitzing

It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last marathon—it must be time for another one! It’s the Spring Marathon Blitz, and I am registered to run in Charlottesville, Virginia, this Saturday.

This will be my third Charlottesville Marathon but I will also be running a third version of the course. Do the race organizers change it every year or only when I’m running? I don’t know, but last year I kept dreading a hill I remembered crushing me around mile 24, and then the second half of the course turned out to be completely different. Which I’m not complaining about, because during my first running of the Charlottesville Marathon, I kept comforting myself with the thought that I never had to run that course again. (It was, um, hilly.)

How sheepish did I feel, then, when I registered for a second running of the marathon. Hallelujah for a new course—I got to keep my word to myself after all. And this year, I’ve gleaned from the event website that yet another version of the marathon awaits. The description includes the word “flat,” but is that relative to past years? We’ll see!

A new feature last year was the prominent sponsorship from Miller Lite. The brand logo is hard to miss on my T-shirt and the medal. Funny that I ended up sitting in a bar waiting for the race to start. The bar was adjacent to the venue where I picked up my packet on race morning, and it was warm and cozy and only a few steps from the marathon start. So hanging out in a bar early on a Saturday morning: that’s where my life intersects with the party scene. But I was at the beginning of my wild fun, not the end.

I’m pretty high going into this race because of my great experience in Ellerbe, but I’m trying to manage my expectations. Physically, I’ve taken a downturn this week. I’m running tired. It seems like the Ellerbe hills exacted their toll long after I crossed the finish line.

So in spite of my past marathon experiences, I’m going into Saturday not knowing what to expect. But you know all I really want is a good T-shirt.