So it’s done! The Flower City Half Marathon has been run. By me. And 2,364 other people too.
Pre-Race
My day started dark and early around 5 AM. I spent the early morning hours puttering around the house getting ready to go – putting together things for Zak, the kids and my mom who would be coming along later, and packing up my own bag too. The race started at 7:30, so I had a little something to eat around 6:30 to give myself an hour for digestion.
Yesterday marked 11 weeks until the Flower City Half Marathon at the end of April. Since we’re going to chat about running on Monday’s from now until then, this week I want to tell you about my current favorite pre-run snack – originally inspired by Lisa’s Coconut Oil Chocolate PB cups.
I make these all the time, people.
ALL THE TIME. (yes, that required shouting.) These are easy and delicious, and even good for you too.
I’m officially stocked up on things to blog about!
First things first! On Sunday I took my camera along with me on an overcast and very-mild-for-January morning run.
I took a punk along with me too.
Who wants to come along on a 5 mile run through my new neighborhood? Well, you don’t have a choice. Get your sneakers on. It’s time to go.
Our first landmark would be what is currently my most favorite thing to run over in the whole wide world. A pedestrian bridge that crosses the river that divides the city in half.
All our snow from yesterday is already gone. That’s just how it goes with these early snow falls I suppose. The dry roads made for a very enjoyable run this morning – I did one of my standard loops through my neighborhood – 4.19 miles 34 minutes, making my average pace about 8:06 per mile.
When I bought my black Friday sneakers last week they stuck a post card in the shoebox at check out. I didn’t even look to see what it was until a few days later.
The Flower City Challenge, a brand new half marathon in my city this spring!
Today is Ms. Maxine’s birthday – my “baby” is THREE!
I woke up just before 5:00 today and swapped out today’s a work out for gift wrapping and decorating. I love the kids birthday’s so much – I find so much joy celebrating the day of their births. They are without a doubt my two favorite days of the year.
Dining room decorated and her new pink tutu and dancing shoes wrapped, I figured it was appropriate to make the same green smoothie I made the morning of the half marathon to help power me through this marathon day!
I’m going to spoil the ending by jumping ahead and saying right at the start that today was probably one of the best runs of my entire life.
The day started at 4:55 AM when I woke up a half hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I slept like a rock and felt great when I woke up. I called Shawn at 5:30 to make sure he was awake and moving around.
Shawn and I went over our strategy last night, but I was still feeling unsure about our approach this morning. Fast at the beginning? If so, how fast? Save it all for the end? How much do I hold back? Maintain a steady pace throughout?
Unless you’ve watched The Wiggles before, today’s title will be a little less meaningful for you. Go ahead click that link. You can come back and curse me later when you can’t get that song out of your head.
Today is a rest day. Tomorrow will be too. I’m resting my legs in preparation for 13 big ones on Sunday and I would be lying if I said I’m not grateful for the extra time two rest days will afford me.
I would also be lying if I said today’s fruit cereal didn’t make me drop to my knees and weep tears of unabashed joy.
I’ve felt so swamped this week I keep *forgetting* that the half marathon is on Sunday. Last year at this time I was gearing up to run my first full marathon and it was of course all I could think about. I began checking the weather forecast day 10 days out. I laid out my clothes and mixed and matched outfit possibilities in my mind figuring out what would work best. I checked the race website for updates multiple times a day. Re-read emails from the race director again and again, making sure I knew every last detail and didn’t miss a thing.
Today would have been Ava’s first day at school. Kindergarten, to be more precise. But as the saying goes, she missed the bus.
I’m very grateful that the homeschooling seed was planted in our minds early on because it took me a while to get comfortable with the idea. I use to resist the instinct to hyperventilate at the idea of NOT schooling our kids in the traditional sense. But fortunately we have a large homeschooling community in our area and we’ve gotten to know a lot of homeschooling families and kids, including a couple of incredibly amazing grown up homeschoolers. I know that homeschooling DOES indeed work and the pros easily out weight any cons. This confidence enables me to take a picture of a school bus driving by the house this morning and I can continue breathing in a normal fashion.
On any given day, at any given moment, the answer to my own question “Are you going to run the marathon again this year or what?!” could go like this:
1. Or what.
2. Yes, of course I am.
3. Maybe.
4. I’ll do the half.
I’ve got a million different reasons for wanting to run it. I’ve got the same number of reasons why I think I shouldn’t.
I cycle around though all four answers at varying speeds, coming back to #1 when I think of the time commitment involved in training. Time is a hot commodity these days.
More Mama’s Weeds
