Parkway Half Marathong Eve

'Tis the eve of the great American River Parkway Half Marathong! I have hydrated all day, although, have yet to embark on my pre-race meal outing. Tonight, it's the usual Spag Fac (The Old Spaghetti Factory) to carb up before tomorrow :)

About one year ago, I ran the 4th annual Parkway Halfie, which began what would be an incredible journey through an additional 2 half marathongs as well as a full marathong. Since then, I have managed to log in over 500 miles, I've gone through numerous running injuries, and I've run through 3 pairs of shoes. It's pretty crazy when I really think about it.

I picked up my bib and shirt this afternoon (fyi, it SUCKS to drive through downtown Sac, especially when I'm trying to hurry back to work!), and I was a little disappointed in the shirt they had this year. For one thing, it looks almost identical to last year's shirt, except for these green stripes down the side. And secondly, it's way bigger than last year's and I ordered the same size! Men's small!! (I hate getting the women's shirts because for some reason, they're always really wide and they're always V-necks or something weird. Maybe they're wide because of the boobs?)

Take a look... this year's shirt...

Last year's shirt....

At least change the color of the stupid shirt, right? Well, whatever, I can't complain, it's a shirt that says, "I just ran 13.1 miles, what did you do today?" Ooh, that sounds like a cool shirt to have, I should suggest that for next year...

You all know that I've been bitching about how I haven't trained for this race, and I haven't. I ran more this week that I did all month! I know it's stupid to play "catch up" with running, because it's pointless, and I've probably tired myself out, but I feel more mentally prepared at least. I keep telling myself, "It could be worse... I could be running a FULL marathong!" No way will I ever do that again. Once is enough. Regardless, I just have to keep a strong mentality for tomorrow no matter how I've trained (or didn't train). I've done with twice before, this should be no problem...right?

The weather today was insanely windy, and I'm a little worried for tomorrow's race. I HATE the wind... with a passion. And yes, hate is a strong word, and I HATE the wind. It slows you down, it dries out your eyeballs, and it blows dirt all up in your grill. WTF. I've been sitting here begging the wind gods to just have mercy on us runners tomorrow. The wind today was about 20-25 mph, pretty gusty, and I looked up the weather for tomorrow and it only says the wind will be between 10-20 mph. We'll see...

Anyway, tomorrow will be the last race I run for a while. It's kind of cool that I began and ended my little running stint with the same event, though. Who knows if I'll be back, although I'm almost positive I will be, but I just need to take a break. Maybe I'll pick up a new sport, who knows. For now, I'm only focused on tomorrow and how awesome I'll feel when I cross that finish line and realize I could eat an entire bucket of fried chicken and not feel horrible about myself for it. I probably won't, but the option's there.

Until tomorrow my friends!! Wish me luck!

This Place About to BloOOOOOOw!

There are only 4 more days until my next race... holy $*!%... and let me tell you friends, training has NOT been going well.

1. I've only run about 5 times since my last race on March 13th
2. I just came back from an EPIC Las Vegas vacation with some old college friends
3. ...I just don't wanna!

I've said it a million gazzillion times already, but getting out there has been SOOO hard. I ran 10 miles on Saturday and while I've been struggling lately, it's probably the best run I've had in a while. I made sure to hydrate all day Friday, and I even downloaded an audio book to help me get through the run.

Side note: a friend asked me to join her book club. Apparently, people read books to talk about them and watch the out coming movies....weird. Anyway, she asked me to join, and I said, "No, I don't read". And really, I DON'T READ. Reading for fun is an idea that is so rare, I barely even know what books are anymore. But after much coaxing and convincing (aka complaining and bitching about it), I finally said, "FINE. I'll download the audio book for your little (quotation marks being made with my hands) "book club"..." To this days, she calls me a cheater for getting the audio book instead of the real thing. But let's face it: I paid $5 for a "book" that can READ FOR ME. Tell me that's not the most American thing ever- I just paid to have something do a job for me that I'm fully capable of doing myself. LOVE IT.

Anyway, back to running. The audio book made the time FLY. I'm contemplating on bringing it with me to the race. Normally, I run races without anything so I can hear other people and just take in everything around me. Considering I don't really want to do this event, I may just take my headphones with me to drown everything out and get the damn thing over with ASAP. Maybe not.

The run felt good. I took a GU with me (Tri-Berry... YUM!) and it really helped me. The only thing I could really complain about was my right knee. I'm thinking my IT band just wasn't stretched out enough, but other than that, I'm ready to rock. I even calculated my possible times for the race. If I keep a sub 9:15 pace, I'll finish in under 2 hours... I can totally do that. We'll see though. Normally, I feel great for the first 8 miles, then it starts wearing on me. There's just no way I can beat my last time with the little time I've spent training. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN...

I've got 3 more runs scheduled this week and then it's the big day. I'm fueling up and hydrating now; not much else left to do. WISH ME LUCK... I'M REALLY GOING TO NEED IT, CUZ MY TRAINING DID ME NO GOOD! (SCREAM!)

Cuz I Would Walk 500 Miles and-uh I Would Walk 500 More...

It's official: I've logged in a total of 500 miles since I started running with my Nike+ sensor in my shoe. As the Nike website says:

"500 miles is one serious road trip. And to think, you did it on one set of tires. Keep on truckin’."


You'd think this would motivate me, but it really hasn't. I did take heed to my friend's advice and I tried running a different trail today which helped a little bit, but I have definitely decided to take a break from running events after the Parkway Half Marathong.... at least until October. 


October is the Nike Women's Half Marathong and I definitely plan on running that one. Why?? Because instead of a finisher's medal, you get a Tiffany & Co. necklance. A TIFFANY & CO. NECKLACE. I shouldn't even have to say that twice.... YOU know why now :)


Anywhoosies... just thought I'd share the cool news about my 500 mile mark with y'all... pretty neat :)