“How did you pick this race?”, you ask. Well, here’s how: My boyfriend wanted to go on a celebratory “I kicked cancer’s ass” vacation before he goes back to work in March so we started brainstorming. Australia (flights are expensive, but we do have friends there that could accommodate us), Thailand (possibly…), Panama (he wants to surf), Costa Rica (I’ve been before but I could go again and he can surf), etc.

Looking forward to these in Costa Rica

While we started looking at different destinations, I was in the corner secretly surfing the internet for international races that I could participate in while we were on this vacation. I came across several all over the world. However, Bermuda, Bahamas, and Trinidad were all in January and were not too far from Panama and Costa Rica. But this caused a little debate. Clint got a little upset that all I wanted to do was run a marathon while we were supposed to be on a relaxing vacation. Yeah, maybe it’s a little selfish, but what the heck?!? I don’t want to go to an amazing country and NOT run an international marathon if I can help it. This is my life too and I want to experience these things while I can. Plus, it’s a great adventure for both of us. And I explained that it’s only four hours of my life (and his life) so it’s really not taking up too much time out of a 2.5 week trip. So, he slept on it. He woke up the next day and agreed. I told him, he could go hang on the beach and sip cocktails if he wants to while waiting for me. Surely, that sounds awesome, doesn’t it? That’s when I registered for the Trinidad & Tobago International Marathon – www.ttmarathon.com.

I’m officially signed up only paying $60 USD (super awesome deal!) and browsed the course map and emailed the race directors to get some information about water and electrolyte stops. I’ve looked at pictures of past year’s races and results. I wanted to see how many people from Trinidad race versus people from all over the world. It’s mostly people from Trinidad but I did see people from Europe and the US. I even came across an article about the top female to win this race seven years in a row, American marathoner Mary Akor, was banned from racing for two years because she tested positive for a prohibited substance. So maybe I have a chance at winning now! (I laugh out loud!)

Here’s the article:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/TT-marathon-champ-Akor-gets-2-year-ban-236656641.html

But seriously, I saw that the Top 10 male and female winners get an award and after looking at last year’s winners and times, I may have a shot at making the Top 10. Its a pretty VERY small race, so this may be the only time in my life I will get an award. I guess we’ll see.

I haven’t been training a lot since I took three weeks off of running after my December 15th half marathon in Arizona. Well, I didn’t stop exercising all together. I did cycle and weight train and did lots of lunges and squats and abs almost everyday. I also started running again this week to get my legs used to it and get some mileage in. But I am not worried. I would rather have a rested body than an over-trained body. Plus, I am doing this race for fun, not time. I just want to enjoy it and soak it in. Sometimes when you run a race for time, you don’t (or at least I don’t) look around and enjoy the things going on around you like the other people running, spectators, or your surroundings. I want to immerse myself in this race, if at all possible.

And looking forward to seeing these in Trinidad

So, there you go. The secret’s out! We leave on Monday and will head to Costa Rica first then off to Trinidad. I can’t wait to see the course, the local people, and the island is only 50 miles in length x 37 miles wide, so this course is a good chunk of the island. Should be pretty interesting, oh, and warm. I will fill you all in when I return. I’m not planning on bringing the ‘ol laptop while I am away, so I will keep notes on my phone.

Now, I must start packing…