Pre-Race Crater Lake Rim Run Ponderings

I feel like I'm falling off the blog-a-sphere and life with my sporadic postings.  On Saturday I have a 13 mile race that I am ill prepared for.  Last year I trained on hills and this year I'm barely squeaking in my runs.  It's hot is my biggest excuse and my hammy isn't 100% but I'm still going out to run the Crater Lake Rim run, one of the hardest yet most beautiful races I've run.

This is my third year running the race and last year I told myself to reread my race reports so I would know what to expect.

I said this about the 2010 race -
Feeling tired on the last 3 miles.  The hill just kept going. I ran/walked up the hill and wonder if I hadn't stopped to walk would I not have walked any of it?  Its not that I don't believe in walking I just know that since I stopped once, I then gave myself an opening to stop again.

The 2011 race I expressed a similar tiredness but worse in that I truly never wanted to run again
 I started too fast, felt great on the downhills and faltered at 9.5 to the end on the hills. I ran/walked the last 3 miles up the hill and had zero mental toughness. Thoughts such as I never want to run this race again and I never want to run again crossed my mind. Each time I was passed, which was a lot the last 3 miles, I deflated a little more and wish I would have just dug deep and really pushed it. 

So this race is tough and since I'm less prepared I need to make sure I'm in the right mind set.  Here are my goals:

1. Enjoy the scenery
2. Start out slow
3. Give myself permission to walk the hills
4. Finish under 2:07

I am honored to be able to run the Crater Lake Rim run with the International Running Flag sent to me by Giorgio. After a failed trip to the Dollar Store, a trip to Walmart yielded a little American Flag for me to run with. I am going to email a friend in France to see if he would run with his flag and add it to the International Running Flag.

Watch for my race report and pictures of me with the American flag.

Happy Running!