<tap, tap, tap> Testing 1-2. Hello?
Yes, it’s been a week but I’m BACK! I told you I had a crazy schedule planned for the week and, boy was I right.
Backing up a smidge, last weekend my two best friends came down for my birthday. It was crazy fun as per usual. Picked the girls up on Friday and had a pretty low key evening at Mama Palma’s followed by a couple drinks at Devil’s Alley. Saturday morning I managed to fit in an 8-Mile tempo run before the day’s activities began. I felt pretty awesome with miles 2, 4, and 6 at race pace. Then we all went out for some shopping and lunch, followed by the Mutter Museum (medical museum - don’t go if you get queasy at the sight of blood!) Afterward, I made took the girls to get their cards/palms read with me. (HA!) It was crazy. I definitely think “Madam China” was a scam, however she said I am a very honest person, my “marriage was a good decision” and that my husband is a good man. And she said I will have children – not one, but multiple, although she couldn’t give me an exact number, haha. Then I had a cupcake.
Saturday evening we went started with a drink at Opa followed by dinner at Lolita. It’s awesome. It’s BYOT(equila) which is pretty much the best thing ever. The upscale Mexican food is delicious as well – they have a perfect guacamole recipe. Joe and the girls surprised me with some birthday dessert.
Then we went to Triumph Brewery, followed by some serious dancing at the Plough and the Stars, and the rest of the night is history… um, yea.
You’ll never believe this, but Sunday I actually went running. It was a joke 5-miler. I felt terrible during, but much better after. (Hangover cure-all!)
Then came Monday, and I flew to Panama (weee!) It was awesome, but very busy since I was working. I was lucky to see the Panama Canal, which is truly unreal.
Panama City skyline. Pretty rad, no?
The Panamanian food was fresh and amazing – had Panamanian sea bass TWICE, and the Balboa beer was delicious.
Running-wise, I took Monday off since I was travelling. However, being the week before the Philly Half, I knew I needed to get some mileage in. The hotel I was staying at had an excellent hotel gym, with an abundance of treadmills. Tuesday I got in a 6-mile tempo run, Wednesday was a 7-miler around 7:45’s, and Thursday I fit in an easy 5 before my flight back to the US.
iHola!
Perhaps the best part about travelling? Airport FroYo:
This morning I somehow got my butt outta bed to run with the BOMF crew. 2 miles there, 1 mile with the crew, and 2 miles home. DONE.
So there you go! NOW. It’s officially race weekend. Time to get serious.
Weekend Prep:
Running: So, like I said, this morning I ran an easy 5. Tomorrow I’ll probably run a VERY easy 3 just to warm up the muscles to get in a nice, long stretching session. I also may do a few strides along the river just to feel my legs move fast.
Nutrition: I consider the two days prior to the race the key race-fuel days. So as of this morning, I am ϋber conscious of everything I put into my body. Joe will be away this evening, so I’m planning on a nice, quiet pasta & veggies dinner at home with Manny and some Real Housewives Water for Elephants on demand. I’m not big into “carbo-loading” in the traditional sense, since I typically don’t eat many carbs to begin with. The last way I’d want to feel on race day is heavy/bloated. However, I will consciously eat more carbs than normal, but won’t neglect my veggies and protein either. The most important thing to me is to make sure I eat nutritious foods that I know I can digest well prior to the race. I have my Honey Stinger Energy Chews and Picky Bar ready for Sunday morning, so I'm good to go.
Sleep: Must catch up on sleep I didn’t get in Panama.
Activities: Planning on heading to the expo Saturday afternoon and hoping to meet up with some fellow running ladies! If you’re in town, shoot me an email!
Race Strategy: (Just caught myself biting my nails figuring out what to write here) Okay, so my goal is to PR (sub 1:27:45). My REAL goal is to run a sub 1:27:00 because I like round numbers. The weather looks perfect this weekend (knocking on wood) and should be mid-40’s at the start. I’m planning on wearing running long spandex, a tank, my orange running sleeves, and of course, my Altra Eve’s. I’m gonna take a gamble here and NOT wear my Garmin during the race. The majority of the course is in Center City and I learned from the RNR Half that I kept losing signal which screws with my head. I’ll probably just make a pace wristband and use that. My strategy is simple: to run 6:30’s the whole time. If accomplished, this will get me in at 1:25, which leaves 2 minutes of wiggle room. 6:30 is another round number thats easy to remember so I’m sticking with that.
Anyways – I’ll keep you guys posted on race-prep – should be a fun weekend!
Who else is racing this weekend?? What are your race prep strategies??
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 04:43PM 
