Pages

Friday, May 25, 2012

Greek Fest 5k: Will I continue the streak?

The Greek Fest on the bayou 
Tonight is my third Greek Fest 5k. After my first marathon in 2010, I took a long break (yes, that was a miserable race for me!) but I'd paid for a membership to the New Orleans Track Club and felt obligated to participate in a few races. The Greek Fest was a no-brainer since the race entry fee includes entry to the festival for all three days!
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?

8 comments:

  1. Wow! This race is really unlucky for you. :(

    I 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! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I 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.

    I 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. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. 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!

    I 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!

    ReplyDelete
  5. 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:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hate night races too because of the eating issues.

    Well - 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! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. 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!?

    ReplyDelete
  8. recently, 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.

    as for a marathon - uh no, for me. It was hard enough figuring out the Boston fueling strategy. Running through lunch - that's absurd. lol !

    ReplyDelete