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| The Greek Fest on the bayou |
Well, that was a mistake. I had a stomach bug but I kept thinking it was better, so I decided to run the race anyway. I ended up throwing up on the course. Um, disgusting. Kind of ruined the rest of the fest, too, since basically it's just a Greek food-eating fest.
The next year - last year - I was straight off a long running break after a stress fracture from, of all things, not running (landing weird on train-track gravel gave me a basketball style twisting fracture). The race was my first run back after a few weeks, and I was not totally healed. I had to stop, the pain was so bad. I stopped for a second, then limped to the finish, but I had a swollen leg the rest of the weekend!
This year what do I expect?
1. Yeah, I'm injured. A little inflammation, that's all (said the girl who cannot cross her legs for the pain).
2. It's a tough race anyway. A 7 pm race at the end of May in New Orleans is just unpleasant. I expect it will be incredibly muggy and high 80's; the high for today is 91.
3. I am a poor evening runner because I can't figure out my eating. I don't want to be starving and low-blood sugared for the race, but I definitely don't want a lump of food in my stomach either. It's a balance I haven't quite figured out.
I'm predicting I continue the streak of poor Greek fest races.
Have you ever run an evening race? What is your strategy? Would you ever do an evening marathon?
Wow! This race is really unlucky for you. :(
ReplyDeleteI like Running about 6pm, after work. I hate the feeling of a brick in my belly so I don't eat anything after 2pm, an stick to a very light lunch (small sandwich, protein smoothie- no spicy food) if I plan to run hard. If I'm hungry I can always eat a honey stinger waffle beforehand.
An afternoon marathon? No way! Psychologically it would bother me to be waiting around all day for it. Fueling would be an issue too.
I hope you break the streak! :)
Evening races are not that big a deal for me since I tend to do a lot of my working out (even running) at night. The food thing can be tricky and the waiting around part can be sort of nerve-wracking, but it isn't too bad. I hope you don't puke or break anything out there. I hope you feel AWESOME and run fast and break the streak. And if the heat seems a bit too much, follow the lead of those Bay to Breakers guys ;-) Streak for real! I'm sure that would go over well!
ReplyDeleteI have never done an evening race (since college) and am pretty sure it would be a rough learning experience. Especially if it was a marathon! Maybe you will surprise yourself.
ReplyDeleteI am running a 5K tomorrow in the chance that I could win overall female and win the $100 that goes along with that. I know taking 2 weeks off is NOT the best strategy when trying to win a 5K so I have no idea what to expect. I hope your race goes well. At least in a 5K- it will all be over in 20 minutes. :-)
I did an evening race last week. It was just a mile race through downtown that started around 7. I ended up eating a piece of toast w/ pb around 5 and that worked well for me!
ReplyDeleteI hope it goes ok. That is quite the streak you've had the last 3 years! Your body seems to be telling you to slow down around this time of year!
I have a hard time with evening races! Last evening race I ran was a 5k in August, which you know is absolutely miserable here in South Louisiana. Have fun at the race though. My old teammate, Sean, won the 5k last year. So, I told him I expect a repeat performance at Greek Fest. If the race goes bad, just blame it on the heat:)
ReplyDeleteI hate night races too because of the eating issues.
ReplyDeleteWell - if you have low expectations for this race, maybe you will just surprise yourself! Go easy on that knee though so you don't make it any worse. Good luck and I hope you get to enjoy some Greek food this year. Yum! :)
I am also a poor evening runner. I always have a lump in my stomach because I am afraid of running out of fuel. I can't figure it out either. I'm curious to know if you ran or not!?
ReplyDeleterecently, I prefer a Fri evening 5k. Although the food thing is an issue, the evening is better because the humidity is lower in the evening vs. a morning 5k. Humidity just totally zaps me, so I'll take a pm race over the am races this time of year.
ReplyDeleteas for a marathon - uh no, for me. It was hard enough figuring out the Boston fueling strategy. Running through lunch - that's absurd. lol !