Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Ho hum

Dumdum forgot her watch today so no time or pace for my afternoon run.  3.62 miles around DC, about 72 degrees out. Without repeating the contents of my previous posts I don't have much else to say about how I'm doing in the lead up to the race. I did sleep better last night despite going to bed late after practice.  If I can get a few more nights like that, I'll be grateful.  I made a packing list today at work (I know, shame shame) and I plan on occupying myself with that tonight.  The list is surprisingly long for someone who is only going to be home for about 48 hours.  I generally think of running as a minimalist sport, until you actually have to gather all the "necessary" crap together so you can take it somewhere.  Sixteen of the twenty-nine items on my list are going to be worn, carried, or consumed by me on race day. Minimalist my ass.

I might also be packing up some laundry to take with me, since the services at the parental establishment do not require quarters. I'm 30 and I still take my dirty laundry home. Sue me.  At least I wash it myself, I'm not a total cretin. I also learn the fate of my iPod tonight after work.  I don't think it is going to be good.  I can't find the little Shuffle that is somewhere in the house, so I may have to beg/borrow/steal someone's for the weekend.  It is one thing to commute without it, but not being able to listen to my carefully constructed racing playlist makes my hyperventilate.  I don't run with music, personally I think it is a little like cheating.  Running = suffering and all must get the full experience, bwa ha ha ha ha! Honestly its more about safety and training as close to race conditions as I can get. To each their own, really. There are times that I do wish I ran to music, and I will use my headphones at the gym to watch tv while I plod along on the treadmill.  At any rate, the point of this story is that I have no iPod to listen to music before the race in hopes of preventing an anxiety attack.  Keep your fingers crossed for one of the following to happen: the Genius Bar fixes my iPod, I find the damn Shuffle in my apartment, or I use my feminine wiles to borrow one from Joe.

Do you have any pre-race rituals that you MUST do?  Do you run with music and why? What is something that I'm probably going to need and forget to pack?

3 comments:

  1. My pre-race rituals involve making sure I eat the right breakfast as always (oatmeal) and wear certain items of clothing. I don't run with music either!
    :)

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  2. No ritual, except avoiding heavy foods and alcohol the couple days before. I usually don't run to anything during races or road runs (since WV doesn't believe in sholders), but podcasts most of the time on the treadmill.

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  3. I have to eat the right thing for breakfast too! And I only have a few regular items of clothing that I like to race in as well. Probably just being superstitious but there are so many things on race day that you can't control, the little things seem to bring it closer to a balance.

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