Pages

Saturday, August 24, 2013

What to do, what to do, put some mustard in my (running) shoe...

Woke up this morning
Feelin' sort of blue...Woo, woo, woo
Caught in a bind
Don't know what to do...Doo, doo, doo

It sounds like a bad country-western song, but sometimes these types of cheesy non-lyrics are true...true, true, true.

It's getting towards the end of summer, and I have been hearing a lot of "I'm bored. There's nothing to do" from the kidlets.  While I have gotten used to hearing this song and dance from them, it's rare when I wake up with practically the same thought going through my head.  In my case, however, it's not that I have nothing to do, it's just that I am filled with a restlessness of spirit that probably has to do with my marathon in two weeks.  (This always happens to me, so at least I am learning to recognize it.)

As I start slowly backing off the exercise routine a bit, giving myself an excuse to ease up on the duration of my workouts, my brain seems to go into overdrive.  Now is actually a good time to start thinking about the race, because there are a lot of race day details I need to figure out - how long might this race take me? What kind of stuff should I pack in my hydration pack? What and how many food items should I carry? Extra clothes? How can I get my hydration pack to sit better and not chafe? Should I buy a new shirt to help with that? Do I need bear spray?  You know, the usual questions.  The problem is that my "restlessness" manifests itself in a certain lack of focus that seems to impact all aspects of my life - including race day preparations.

So, I wake up in the morning thinking to myself nothing to do, when if fact I have a ton to do. So, to help me get myself organized, here is my short list of immediate needs (race-related, of course):
  1. First and foremost, figure out the hydration pack.  I recently bought an Ultimate Direction AK race vest, and I really like the idea of it.  The problem is that the one and only time I wore it, it really chafed my neckline terribly on one side.  Now, granted, that first run with it was a 15-miler on trails and monster hills (so, closer to three hours worth of running) and it was humid that day - so lots of sweating.  Except for the chafing, I really liked the vest.  I use Ultimate Direction bottles anyway, so I like that I can carry two of them tucked into chest pockets.  They are easily accessible and it makes it easy to monitor how much I am drinking.  Anyway, I need to see if I can adjust the straps to get a better fit.
  2. Look into buying a new shirt. I have my eye on a Pearl Izumi Ultra Inside Out Quarter-Zip Short-Sleeved shirt.  (Not too picky, am I?)  A friend of mine recently wore that shirt for the Leadville 100 and gave it two thumbs up.  My husband also owns this shirt and likes it as well.  I like the idea of it, because I think the higher collar will help with my chafing issues, plus it has patches on the shoulders that supposedly help hydration packs stay in place.  The problem is that they are expensive.  (I was kind of hoping for a well-timed sale.)
  3. Enough food to finish. Although I originally equated this race with my 50K seven-and-a-half-hour finish, after seeing the race results from last year and running some trails recently (and paying more attention to how long that takes me), I am thinking this could take me upwards of 9.5 hours to finish.  So, I need to exactly determine how many Clif Blocks, Gu Brew blend, etc., etc. that I need to take.
  4. Find some gloves.  I have heard from a couple of sources that there are spots where you actually need to pull yourself up hills (or hold yourself back going downhill) using trees. If that is the case, I want some hand protection.  I think a pair of garden-variety (sic) gardening gloves would work, but if I could find a pair of cheap gloves that would double as cycling gloves later, that would be great.
  5. Make a final determination if I am going to wear my Saucony Xodus trail shoes or not.  I have been told I need trail shoes for this race, but these slip a little on the heels when I run in them.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good back-up plan, as those are my only trail shoes.  If I choose not to wear them, I would go with my Cortanas.  If I do decide to wear them, then I need to put some velcro on them so I can attach some gaiters. Decisions, decisions.
So, those are the big - and immediate - concerns.  Once I get these big questions figured out, I can probably start to relax a little more about this race.  And, we all know how important relaxing is to race preparation.  If you don't know that, check out this article: Tapering: The real art and science of coaching by Greg Wells.

In the meantime today, though, I need to ponder whether to go to the farmer's market or not.  I really like getting my produce from there in the summer, but the Saturday market is always such a zoo.  Wednesday's market is a bit more manageable.  The kids sure do like these little gems, though:

Ground cherries!
Later today, it's off to another bike riding adventure with the kids.  This one will involve my parents' car, a bit of a roadtrip, some amazing scenery, and two whining-dragging-their-heels kids who will claim they hate to bike until they are actually doing it.  But, a few miles of adventure is worth a bit of whining.  My hope is that despite the negativity we as parents field doing some of these activities that someday they will look back on these memories as some of their fondest ones.

From our last biking "adventure"...



1 comment:

  1. we are manufacturer make the great cyclings gloves and winter gloves summer gloves and half gloves and other product and cheap price.
    you can easily diference other product.we make the great quality..every customer apprecaite the our product.

    half finger cycling gloves
    cycling gloves
    coolmax cycling jerseys
    dry fit cycling jerseys
    full finger cycling gloves
    summer cycling gloves
    sharing knowledge

    ReplyDelete