Sunday: nuthin’ (pushed my last long run to Monday)
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday: 40 min elliptical
This is me in a Tibetan rug shop, acting all zen-like. Super talented photographer, Eric Baillies, photoshopped it to look antique-y and trippy. Today, I’m trying to channel this zen mode in prep for Saturday’s race!
Confession: I have an online shopping problem. I’ve grown to hate shopping in stores, except for my beloved Trader Joe’s, and so I buy as much as I can online. Now that I’ve got an Amazon Prime account, shipping is free — and that just means I buy more frequently. Let me break down my recent orders:
- On June 5, 9:15 pm: Dry shampoo
- On June 5, 12:50 pm: Love Grown Foods Oat Clusters, cacao nibs, chia seeds
- On June 4, 7:00 pm: SPIbelt running belt
- On May 29, 12:05 pm: 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington
Of these six items, I intended to buy three of them: the Love Grown granola (because I’d read about it on another blog and have been looking for a new granola to swap into my breakfast routine), the SPIbelt (I already have a larger Nathan belt, but have wanted something smaller for races) and the hiking book (since I’ve never actually owned a book of hikes since I’ve lived in Portland, even though I go hiking regularly).
The other three items just kind of magically appeared in my cart, damnit.
That’s basically how all of my online purchases work. 50% planned. 50% on a whim. And thus my bank account hates me.
But it’s just so easy to click ORDER! You don’t even have to pull out your card! You don’t even have to look at your money!
Ok, back to running.
I planned to do my last long run (before the Helvetia Half) on Sunday, but I slept in too late and then spent the rest of the day at a barbecue. It was a good decision. We played bean bag toss (aka cornhole) for hours — I let it slide that their set is painted in Steelers colors — and I had my fill of chips and guacamole, garden burgers and beergaritas. (Those take carb, er, sugar loading to a whole new level.)
The carb loading must have worked because I really enjoyed Monday’s run. Or, I should say, I enjoyed most of it. Except getting hit on the head with a rock. THAT A KID THREW AT ME. Yes. A 12-year old kid threw a rock at MY HEAD while I was running.
I was so startled when it happened that I didn’t really have time to react, and the kid and his friends were already racing off in the other direction around the corner. But, damn, it kind of hurt. We’re not talking a pebble, we’re talking a rock the size of a quarter.
And my eyes sort of filled with tears. (Embarrassing.) Not because it hurt that much, more because I felt, like, oddly violated by some stupid punk. It took me a good half mile to get my breathing back and convince myself that I was totally fine and should probably not be having a meltdown in the midst of my run.
Anyway, the run itself was pretty nice. I stuck with a comfortable pace and never felt like I over-exerted myself, and I had energy to spare at the end. Here are my splits:
These aren’t fast, by any means, but they’re faster than the paces I’ve been holding my other long runs at (granted those other long runs were 10-12 miles, not 8.4). Still, for the last long run leading into the race, it was a good confidence builder for me.
And what I really looked forward to was pulling on my compression sleeves, icing on the couch and eating boatloads of crackers and cheese when I got home.
Today, I did an easy 40 minutes on the elliptical at the gym and foam rolled the wazoo out of my thighs and calves.
I’m planning to do one more run and two days of rest (or maybe yoga) before Saturday.
I think this is what’s called smart tapering.
And it’s actually not bothering me at all. I like the rest. I welcome it. So … maybe I’m not really a serious runner … yet.
What about you? Anyone running a race this weekend? Are you excited? Anxious? Ready to kick ass (but not throw rocks)?
see molly run (away) 