Matters of Importance Come Race Day

My car has been in the shop for almost 4 weeks! Seriously?! Anyways I told them they HAD to be done by today because I needed to drive to my race this weekend.  So on my way there I walked past this billboard and thought it was pretty funny.  It is sad but true.......

Moving on.  I am so excited for my race this Sunday and I am not really sure why?  Maybe it's because I only trained for 6 weeks or maybe it is because I told myself I am doing this for fun and no pressure.  Just to do my best. 

I decided to put together a list of Matters of Importance come race day.  The top being the most important and the last been the least but still important.

1. Get a TAN! (I am so ready for the summer and to get myself a nice tan)
2. Look Good and Run Faster
3. Have Fun
4. Enjoy the scenery
5. Keep a Good and Enjoyable Pace, not too fast but not too slow.
6. Finish Strong
7. Finish Happy
8. Finish Healthy
9. Listen to Good Music
and
10. Get an even better TAN :)


This is what I will be wearing, yes I planned this out and tried to match and stuff.  I do this because when I look good, I feel good and when I feel good I run stronger and run faster.  So I am pretty excited about my outfit :)

Who else has a race this weekend??  Good luck!!

XX
Sarah

Race Day Humility

I don't know why this is but I am a horrible race day performer. Rarely do I actually do what I think I am gonna do. I either go out to fast and burnout, or I go out too slow and feel like I didn't do what I could...I get really nervous for some reason. ha! I am laughing at myself as I type because it is truly ridiculous.  Ask my sisters how I was before the marathon...  I was all calm and cool until like 20 minutes before the race and then they could both see the anxiety in my eyes. It is bizarre.

I found a stranger to take my before race photo. It was already super hot at 6:30 in the morning!

Chewy Sprees.... my pre-race fuel. Not sure if it is the best choice but it does give me a great sugar high.  It is just too bad I burned through all the sugar in my first mile. Apparently when you want to run an overall 7:38 pace for 6 miles your first mile should most likely be slower then a 7:15 WHOOPS.

They did have a 5k that started the same time as the 10k and never in my life have I been more tempted to just turn around do the 5k.  ;)

Anywhoo, so as for a recap on last Saturdays 10k this is how it went down.  I started to fast, then pooped myself out. So much so that I walked a lot. Now, as someone who typically runs lots of miles 6.2 miles doesn't seem to far. It seems like regardless of how fast or burnt out I am feeling you'd think I would at least keep running the entire time. NOPE.

My goal time: 47:30
My Actual time: 52:10

So anyways, I finished the race, had a melt down, licked the salt in my wounds, (literally, it was frickin HOT out) and then got over it. Live and learn I suppose. I apparently will always be livin' and learnin' because this happens to me more often then not. I also realize that staying frustrated about a race is a waste of time. I think allowing yourself to just feel disappointed or frustrated is good but then just move on. Dwelling on things doesn't do anybody any good. I am sure of it.

I do realize not all of my races are like this. I had a great marathon, I did do the Bolder boulder 10k pretty well and feel like I am getting stronger as a runner. But these times just happen and if they didn't life would be boring I am sure. Back to the drawing board we go.

So whats on the agenda so far this week:

Today:  Run 5 Miles with 3.5@ 7:30 pace. Then swim at least a 2000m distance. (P90X Ab ripper)

Tuesday: Running Club, 6x 600/200's. 600 @ 3k pace with last 200 @ mile pace with 90% recovery and Barbell class

Wednesday: Practice the Sprint Tri. We live right next door to the course so a few friends and myself will swim, ride and run an an easy pace to see how it all feels.

I am hoping these things help me feel ready for my Tri in 2 weeks =)

So what is on your schedule this week?

Does anyone out there actual preform well consistently on race day?
- me, obviously not. But I do know a few girls at running club that tend to always come in right around what they are thinking. Pretty amazing I say.

Does anyone else Melt Down?
- I am a big reactor. Although melt downs happen to me they aren't always good indicators of how I am actually feeling. I can melt down and really only be feeling kind of frustrated but regardless..... my melt downs are inevitable.

Who else likes to cross train and what do you do?
I am really liking the swimming and biking....

Before and After with a Salad

Do you remember last Saturday when I told you I bought these Nike shorts for my marathon.  Well I tested them out to see if they ride up too much.  I bought the 5" length ones and I LOVE them!  I had never ran in tight shorts like these so I was hesitant.  But as I got going they felt great.  Almost as if I had nothing on, but in a comfortable way.

I will say that they did ride up a little but not enough to make me think that my bum cheeks were showing.  Thank goodness! I also really wanted to test them, so I never pulled them down once and as you can see from my pictures they hardly moved up.  So yep, these are the winners.  My sisters and I are all running in the same outfit!  We will show you the rest of it later.  Can't wait! Only 9 more days till RACE DAY!!

A little over a month ago I wanted to pump up my veggie intake so I made up my own food rule/guideline/diet.  It is called the salad once a day diet.  I try my very hardest to eat a salad once a day.  Simple as that.  I would say that it is going pretty well and I have about a 95% success rate.  The trick is that you have to mix up the ingredients.  I usually buy the Taylor's organic salad mixes.  At first I was really into the herb salad mix but now I have moved onto the the baby spring mix.  I will seriously throw whatever I have in my fridge into my salad.  Some days are better than others but I will say eating my greens everyday helps me feel so much better!! (and I change up the dressing, but always remember to take it easy on the dressing or it just defeats the purpose)

If I am really not feeling a salad I will make a salad mix(this case, with tuna) and just put it on some bread to make an open faced sandwich.

I am in charge of doing activities for the kids in our church and so last night we headed to the park for some games and I brought fruit salad to munch on.  The kids loved it!  No I don't really count this as my greens for the day but I definitely love eating fruit in the summer.  Plus I think it tastes like you are eating dessert when you are eating fruit salad.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.  We played Red Rover.  Do you remember that game?