Race Prep.

Saw this photo on another running blog – couldn’t resist. If you’re too fast for your dog’s tiny legs, you can still bring it along! This is why consumerism is so good – it leads to amazing innovations!

Anyway...

With the muffin run only a day away, I was thinking about race preparation today. Even though Lunenburg isn’t a goal race, I’m still going through the same rituals as for any other race, except that I didn’t do much of a taper. I still did a hard workout on Wednesday and a 14k+ run on Thursday and took my usual day off on Friday. Today, I’ll just do a warm-up run, some drills and strides, and a cool down run. Just easy-peasy to get the junk out of my legs and get things moving.

Where my plan has kind of broken down is with eating.... and drinking. J-A and I spent the day doing house projects, which made us tired – so to reward ourselves, we split a bottle of Shiraz – not standard race weekend practice, but life is short, no? Besides, I’ve run some of my best races with a little wine or beer still in the system. Is there a better way to get carbs?

Anyway...

One thing I learned years ago during my one year of running high school track was that the night to do your big carbo load is two nights before the race. Big races tend to offer pasta dinners the night before the race, but this is not a great time to eat a lot. It just ends up being extra weight in your belly, not energy in your legs. So the night before, I eat early and lightly – for every race from 5k to marathon – this way I won’t have stomach issues during the race. It works for me.

The Lunenburg Waterfront

I’m really looking forward to this race – it’s one of the best of the season. It’s always won or lost on the big hill that starts just after the one mile mark. Those who take it too timidly, rarely make up the difference – those who are too aggressive, fall apart on the second hill after the 3k mark. All the movement happens on the hill – I can’t wait to see what happens this year!