Tuesday, April 08, 2008

How not to prepare for a 5K.



First, don’t stay up until 2 a.m. the night before. Sleep is one of the most critical elements of feeling good for a days run. Second, do not confuse carb loading with beer loading. Despite how much fun it is to see old friends again, Miller Lite is not appropriate fuel for running. Third, if you are used to eating a regular meal of two eggs, yogurt, and an orange don’t think cramming a power bar in your mouth is going to provide you with stomach ache free running. Forth, stretch. This seems obvious as you’ve done it before every other run you’ve ever made, but that leads me to number five. Five, leave at least two hours before the race. I got there so late that I had to run from the parking lot a mile to the registration booth. Once I got my shirt banner and shoe tag I ran outside thinking I had a minute to stretch. Nope. No sooner had I found a small spot to sit than someone yelled, “GO” over a loudspeaker. So, shirt in hand and cold unstretched legs, I ran across the starting line. Six, no matter what, take the time to use the restroom before you start running. It’s not like I had an accident or anything, but I was far from comfortable.

Now that we’ve covered what not to do, the good news is I ran non-stop and completed the race in exactly 31 minutes and 52 second coming in 222 out of a field of 498. That time tells me I kept my training pace of almost exactly 10 minutes per mile. Given the slightly less that stellar preparation I gave myself the day before the race I am excited to do another one more locally. There is one benefiting a local dog rescue organization at the end of April I think I’ll try. Despite a difficult start it felt really good to come across the finish line with everyone cheering the runners on.

On another note, I just spent the morning with Lori Brewer of Waterford Portrait Design. Lori is a professional photographer who very generously donated her time and talent to taking pictures of me, Georgia, and the boat for the web page. We should have the shots back in a week or so and I am still hoping to have the new website up by the end of the month. I snapped a quick shot of Lilly, Steven, and myself. These two have been a world of help in putting me in contact with resources, watching Georgia when I travel, and obviously the logo and web page. Thanks guys. Your help is greatly appreciated. Special thanks to you too Lori. Your professional eye will make all the difference.
Finally, I’ve registered three different names to host my page. I will make them all redirect to the final page, but I am curious which one people like best? Which is the easiest to remember and least confusing?

http://www.sailing4sos.com/
http://www.sailingforsos.com/
http://www.s4sos.com/

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