It's Just me, V

So… I haven’t written anything in about 3 months, I would apologize but sometimes soul searching and dark clouds are a part of life that don’t need to be recorded.

I have 33 days until I toe the line of my very first 50k race. Oh MY GOODNESS! It’s really happening. I have a flood of thoughts in my head, some positive and some negative, there are a lot of “what ifs” and a lot of “why nots” in their too! My head space is pretty busy right now. My training has not gone as well as I had planned, we have a lot of moving parts going on around us that are some what annoying, but the training (while not the best work) is happening. I know I can finish, even if it means crawling over that finish line.

Nutrition is key to any endurance sport, and believe me I have been toying with mine, tweaking and trying different forms and intervals for fueling. I have tried just gels which seems to be a gut bomb for me, once I am past 13 miles, I have determined I need solid food. Not like a pizza or a big burger (trust me that will happen the day after the race I’m sure) but something with a little less “slosh” in my belly. So far, I have discovered, that pretzel sticks are a good source of starch and salt, I have tried Base Salt products as well. Their bars are yummy and settled pretty well for me. A good pal of mine, suggested roasted potatoes! Sounds crazy, right? BUT it was a nice change and it worked well for me, so I plan on baking some with base salt added to them on the night before we leave for DC, then taking them with me on the race course! I guess I’ll need to put them in a plastic box to put in my checked luggage, as I’m not sure that the TSA would let my taters through security as a carry on item. My nutrition list for this race is: Base Salt bars (probably the cranberry one), potato bites baked with coconut oil and Base Salt, and a couple of Base Salt gels.

Hydration is probably just as important if not more so than nutrition on the course. I do know that the Marines put out a great spread for water/electrolytes and nutrition stations, but I am particularly picky about my electrolytes, and will be carrying my own in my hydro pack. Nuun is my favorite for any sport, but especially when it’s a long run. There is only so much sugar one can take before it just makes you sick. Nuun has far less sugar than other electrolyte replacement drinks which makes it easier on the stomach. I figure that if I have my electrolytes of choice on me, then I can get water at the aid stations as needed.

I do plan on using intervals to get through this day, while my long distance pace is slower than my 5-10k paces, I have found that interval running is effective for getting me where I need to me. There is a hard cut off on this race, I need to “Beat the Bridge”. I need to make it to the 14th street bridge by 1:15pm. If I maintain a 12:30min/mile pace I will achieve this with no problem. I plan on going a little bit faster than this, but this is the number I have to keep in my head to push for. I will be taking pictures and enjoying my day out, because this race is my special happy place, it is MY day to show myself what my body is capable of. I am really big on positive self talk – chasing the negatives away is hard. One thing to remember is that you talk to yourself more than anyone else, be kind.

Oh my goodness! What will I wear?

I already know that I will wear a Skirt Sports running skirt, a lioness or a hover, just choosing which one is giving me anxiety! (Oh the joys of pre-race freak outs) I need to get this figured out soon, as I will usually take a couple of longer training runs in this outfit to find possible chafe spots and plan accordingly. Knowing what I am wearing also helps me to decide the plan I have for any nutrition I will be bringing on course with me. I know I am looking for a tank top – the least amount of fabrics touching the better. My skirt will reduce the chafe on my legs – because the shorties built in have an inseam that covers the sweet spot. I am still searching for the perfect socks… Once I narrow that down, I will be set, since my shoes are all broken in!

I guess that this blog post was more of a “hash everything out in my own head” type of blog. But a much needed weird out to calm my nerves some. I know that I can and will complete this race. I know that I won’t be on a podium – that is perfectly ok with me. Just finishing is my prize – I am ok with me.