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May 22, 2006
T-Minus 6 Days
Yesterday's run was just plain awesome. It was only 12 miles and, amazingly, it actually felt like "only" 12 miles. The plan was to do the first half easy, and the 2nd half at MP (which has mysteriously crept down to 10:19 - 10:30, from the 10:53 it was the last time I did one of these fast-finish runs. I'm trying very hard to Not Think About That), and it was no problem at all. It took me a couple miles to get settled into a good 11:40 pace on the front half, and then I took it down to 10:30s with no problem. OK, a couple of miles in there were more like 10:10 - 10:15, but they were still no problem.I'm ready to rock this thing hard-core.
The only "problem" with the run was when I hit downtown and ran smack into the "walk" portion of the American Cancer Society's Walk & Roll. The path was full of walkers, and it was... interesting to navigate. I wound up running on the grass next to the path, which was OK. After a mile of that, I hit my turnaround point, and the crowds were a bit thinner going the other way. By the time I got back down to the museum campus area, the walkers had all turned off the path and I had it to myself again. Ahhhh. Free open road!
Lesson #1 for the weekend: Be aware not only of what events are using the lakefront path on the weekends, but what time the events are. If I'd gotten my ass out of bed before 10:00 Sunday morning, I probably could have been done with my run by the time the walk started. Oops.
Lesson #2 for the weekend: No sleeping with the windows open. I opened a bunch of windows in my apartment on Saturday afternoon, as it was sunny and 70+ here in Chicago. Absolutely beautiful. However, it was far cooler on Sunday, and the temperature dropped enough overnight that I woke up with the beginnings of a cold on Sunday morning. Oops. (Cool evening air + open windows overnight = cold for Dawnie is not new information. I just didn't think it would be an issue, since it was so warm on Saturday.)
The good news there is that it didn't affect my run at all, and I took some decongestants before a very early bedtime last night. This morning I'm still feeling a little loopy from the drugs, but overall much better. As long as I rest and keep it up with the fluids (which I should be doing anyway), I'll be fine for this weekend. Just fine.
Like I said, I'm ready to rock this thing hard-core.
Posted by Dawn at May 22, 2006 06:49 AM
Comments
Which means 6 days and 4.5 hours until I'm standing around wondering, "Why did I just run that far? What was I thinking?!"
Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Jay T at May 22, 2006 08:20 AM
Way to go with your training and way to be fired up about race day! It sounds like you're going to do great. Good luck this week with your finally preparations and I look forward to hearing all about it!
Posted by: Heath at May 22, 2006 10:22 AM
almost there, dawn! enjoy the rest week, eat and drink smart and get plenty of sleep! hey, when do you start your 'vacation'?
Posted by: jeff at May 23, 2006 08:49 AM