Saturday, May 15, 2010

How I got my ass kicked.

All week, I've been looking forward to Saturday. Then, late last night, Saturday had the potential to become an even BETTER day....when (as much as I love watching Jman play baseball) the baseball tournament was canceled.

I was overjoyed at the thought of sleeping in, hanging out, doing nothing physical....not even thinking of being active.

I'm gonna sit right here in my reading chair and read my book and drink iced tea and do NOTHING.

Yesterday I went to packet pick up.

Saturday is the limbo day. The day of nothing.

Quite satisfied that I was going to be able to veg out, I fell into a deep sleep last night...almost dreamless, except for the one where I got my course pr.

As far as dreams go, I usually dream about not making the start or getting lost in transition, or various race dreams that seem to undo all the good that training has done.

So, I'll take a pr dream. BUT THAT was going to be the last bit of thinking about the race (that I was going to do) until Sunday at the butt crack of dawn when I have to get up.

Saturday morning, arrives.....ahhhhhh.....I awake around 10am; I make coffee, have a wonderful breakfast. No one else is up, so I begin my reading.

Around 11, the rest of the house wakes up. I continue reading as Jman, Googs, and Mr. Tea start making breakfast. I don't think there is a better aroma than the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast cooking.

Ah......

My ears begin to focus in on the conversation.

I hear "strategy"....."water".....and I realize that the conversation had turned to ME.

That's when I look up to see three pairs of eyes staring at me.

Mr. Tea: So, what's your race day strategy. We really need to talk about this.

Me: I....er....uh....

Jman: where are the water stations? How much gu are you bringing?

Googs: Do you know how you're running this race?

Me: I....um....really just want the bbq at the end. I miss it every year.

Mr. Tea: You really need to have your strategy worked out. tomorrow is the race.

Me: yea, well....I haven't really decided if I want to carry my water bottle or not.

JMan: That's something you need to decided. You can't wait until the last minute. How far apart are the stations?

Me: Two miles. But I remember something weird about them last year, like they weren't where they were supposed to be...??

Jman: You need to carry your water bottle. You don't want to be in the situation where you need water and the station is mismarked. Or what if you need an extra gu? Every 3 miles means that you might run out of gas at mile 12. You don't want to run out of gas at mile 12.

Mr. Tea: Ok, that's decided. You're carrying water.

Googs: What's the route like? How are you going to run it. Didn't you go out too hard last year?

Me: yea, I did. It's pretty flat as far as denver goes. But it's 6.5 up and 6.5 down. Last year, I went out too hard with the incline. I should be more conservative this year and be patient. This way on the down, I can really kick it.

Googs: Yea. You definitely want to be conservative. This isn't a 5k.

Mr. Tea: Ok, what else? You're carrying water, gu every 3 miles, go out conservatively.

Me: And I'm getting bbq at the end.

Mr. Tea: And bbq at the end. Now don't you feel better about the race? Now you have a plan.

Me: Yea....


With that, I am now set to enjoy the rest of my day, knowing that everyone feels good about the race and the plan "we" have set.

Really what it comes down to is.....getting to the foodline as fast as possible.