Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Timing is everything...

Is it too late to taper? Too soon to carb load? How do you gauge the timing of all the adjustments you need to make during race week?

Even though I'm not hoping to PR at the Miami Half Marathon this Sunday, I still want to go to the starting line properly prepared. Unfortunately this week hasn't been a good week for proper race preparation (for a number of reasons). Primarily, there has been a definite lack of self-discipline this week...


As much as I hate to admit it, little things have thrown me off my training this week & now have the potential to become "big things" if they are underestimated. For example, I only drank 32oz of water today...which is not nearly enough to keep me hydrated. And I haven't exactly eaten well this week, but I really tried to have a good relatively good lunch today...
("bun-less" turkey burger with sweet potato fries and honey mustard sauce)

I'm not 100% confident that having anything "fried" was the best food preparation choice, but these sweet potato fries are soooooo good!  

The Miami Half Marathon looks like it is shaping up to be one of the best events I'll ever participate in. The excitement among race participants is palpable! Everyone I know that is participating in the event is looking forward to it. I have yet to ask someone about it and get a "meh" response accompanied by a "whatever" shrug of the shoulders. If only for the medal, this race will be EPIC!
This will be me as I cross the finish line...

I think the sponsors have gone above and beyond the usual attention to detail one sees at major races (in my very limited experience of course). They not only demonstrated this by the amazing race bling, but they also remembered that great on-the-course photos are vitally important to a runner's overall race experience. So much so that they have (in conjunction with the official photography company) posted the location of the photographers on the course!!!
(How awesome is this???!!!!)

So as I'm navigating my way through 13.1 city of Miami miles, I will be thinking "I still have to get to the finish line before they open up the roads to local traffic, but first....lemme take a selfie" (although it's not really a "selfie" if someone else is taking the picture is it? oh well... the phrase is still cute).

Speaking of "selfies".... today was "Workday Wednesday" selfie day!!! (I totally made that up... posted the day's title to my whatsapp family group... and looked forward to seeing everyone post their selfie pics all day!)
(this was me pre-coffee intake... you know it's going to be a great day when you can smile before you've had your coffee)

I was in a great mood today despite the fact that I did not run, did not swim, did not workout, did not do yoga...

And it actually turned out to be a pretty fantastic day. I had successful meetings at work (always a plus). And the research monitor (for one of my clinical research studies) turned out to be a former marathon runner so after the meeting we talked about the different events he participated in. He is also from Chicago (although he lived there much longer than I did) and he told me all about his first Chicago marathon and how much he loved the course etc etc etc. I can't wait until I have my own "Chicago Marathon" story to tell too!

I read a blog post recently (via a link on Facebook) that talked about "running your birthday age". In other words, if you're turning 24 you run 24 miles on or around your birthday. I'm turning 35 this year so that craziness is not happening in May, buuuut I also read about someone who decided to run their birthday age in the "number of events" they participated in that year. Which means I could commit to running in 35 events this year. I could. I'm not sure if I should (even though the majority of them would obviously need to be 5Ks & 10Ks so it doesn't throw off my training for Chicago). So I contemplated the whole "35 events" thing for a while (approximately 35 seconds) and decided that instead of going from the handful of events I planned to participate in for 2015 to 35 RACES, I'm going to be logical (cough, cough) and commit to "15 new things for 2015" OR "15 races for 2015". 

I'm still doing the ZOOMA Napa Valley Half Marathon "giveaway" (i.e. bib transfer) for any ideas to add to my "15 new things for 2015" list [comment on THIS BLOG POST to enter], but that will close on Friday (because you need time to plan if you're going to travel to Cali for this event), and I'm only at 4 things :(   If I can't come up with other ideas and don't get any new suggestions, then running in 15 events this year might be a much more realistic idea. 

By the time you read this Wednesday will be over (or almost over) so you know what that means.....
#MIAMIFAMOUS in 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a little excited...can you tell I'm excited????

Is anyone traveling to Miami for the race weekend? If you see me in the crowd of over 25, 000 people be sure to say hi! And of course (cause this can never be stressed too much)...  
(now that I have a Garmin I can officially use this phrase)

Please share your tips and suggestions about the "15 in 2015". At this point suggestions for trying something new or suggestions about races are both welcome (comment HERE).

If you're racing this weekend, what event are you participating in?

If you're doing a training run this weekend, how many miles will your LR be?

If you're not running at all this weekend.... why not ? And if there is a good reason then what are your weekend plans?

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