Vermont City Marathon Race Review, Part 1

Note: My review is based on the last 13.1 miles, as I participated in a two-person relay with my mom. Last year I ran the first 13.1 so we decided to change places and switch it up this year.

The Week Before
For me, I would have to say this is the biggest race of the year. Compared to other marathons and races, VCM is small in comparison- about 8,000 runners total: 3600 marathoners, 700 two-person relay teams, plus 3-5 person relay teams.

The week before the race, I was nervous. Nervous I would get sick, get injured. Every little pain and sniffle I felt manifested into disaster in my head. An awful allergy attack on Friday didn't help matters.

I took it easy the week before, doing yoga and only running three times- 6, 4, and 4 miles. I tried to run on Friday but a bad storm stopped me after a mile. I ate carbs, drank a lot of water and tried to get quality sleep.

Friday
Friday afternoon, Melissa and I headed over to the Sports and Fitness Expo at the Sheraton Hotel.

We walked around and reveled in the excitement, picked up hair bands and Gu. Neither picked up our bibs because we were coming back the next day with our partners (she was running a two-person relay, too).

Saturday
My mom and I went back to the expo to get our bibs- #6141. We walked around some more, I was crazy and signed up for another half marathon in six weeks. I've never been to a "big marathon" expo, but I have to say this one is okay. There were some great deals on running clothes, but the quality of the clothes didn't seem up to par. There were also some questionable vendors- like Bath Fitter. Not sure what Bath Fitter has to do with a sports and fitness expo.

Saturday night, ate some more pasta, stretched, iced my ankles (that were beginning to ache), had a late-night cereal snack and went to bed around 11:00. I fell asleep surprisingly easy considering it was the night before a big race.