Welcome back, race week!

I realized while talking with my friend J last night that it has been quite a while since I last race raced. So, here it is...race week! After an early Thanksgiving brunch with my mom's side of the family, man friend and I came home and took the best nap ever. I had to gently force myself to get out of that cozy place and into my spandex. It reminded me why I try to get my weekend runs out of the way early so I don't struggle in the afternoon.

The sky was looking darkish and a bit breezy so I layered up, grabbed the ipod for support, forced the man friend to get on his bike, and headed out. The first 20 minutes killed. Maybe those hard five miles on Saturday and four extra miles of walking weren't the greatest idea...

Once I got in the groove, it was manageable. I ran along the river, the same path Saturday's half marathon will be along. The second half was mentally tough, but I picked up the pace a bit anyway. I finally made it back home with 90 minutes under my belt and some tired legs and lungs. A good stretch and some tea helped.

I feel like it's been so long since I've raced that I've nearly forgotten how it will feel. Luckily, my friend J (whom I ran those six miles with @ Portland Marathon) is coming to run it with me, so we will keep each other in check and hopefully take it nice and easy those first few miles.

Dinner last night was an easy, but fun mish mash of bruschetta on a baguette, caprese salad, salami slices and apple thanks to man friend's suggestion. And tonight...vegetarian crock pot chili! Little work, but lots of goodness in a pot! Anyone else racing next this weekend?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oooh a Half-m coming up?? Fun! I heart crock-pot chili, you really can't go wrong with that on the dinner menu :)
Amber said…
Ahhh fun, I've been WANTING to race again, but there aren't any going on near me lately and I don't really have money to travel somewhere for one. The next one on my radar is a half in March :( Quite far away!
Good luck w/ the upcoming half! I have a 10k on Thanksgiving and then probably won't do a race again until the spring. I am tempted to do a 1/2 at the end of January, but it can be as cold as -20 or worse here, and I just don't know if I can handle running 13.1 miles in that kind of weather!

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