Saturday, October 16, 2010

pre-race and the expo

Things I learned at the race expo today:

  • I only weigh 122 lbs!  This means that somehow in marathon training I lost 15-18lbs.  When I started my weight was around 140-142, before my scale broke.  How is it possible that I lost THAT MUCH WEIGHT and didn't really notice much?  I thought I looked fitter, but not 15-18 lbs thinner...geez.  I haven't weighed that little since high school...it's very strange for me, and a number I thought I would never see again (and was ok with that).  So now I'm left wondering if it was the increased mileage or the increased food intake (remember when I started eating huge amounts of calories?)  or if it was something else.  I mean, I'm happy about this but also...baffled.  And also even more terrified that I'm just going to get really chubby after this race is over.
  • I distribute 16 more lbs of weight on my right foot than on my left foot, and the right side of my pelvis is somewhat higher than the left, which I guess is like...really bad.  16 lbs is 13% of my body weight, so I'm really stickin' it to my poor right leg.  I found this out at a chiropractic booth thingy that Sam was interested in.  The guy does free consultations and said he thinks I might have some muscle weakness around the lower back that could be corrected to fix it or something, which might help with my running form.  And he was a pretty cool guy who likes to treat athletes and who is a runner himself.  I might go for a free consultation just for kicks.  He said it's very likely my insurance would cover nearly everything if I wanted to pursue any treatment.  I don't know though.
  • I got (*cough* impulse bought) a Power Balance at a random booth. Call me a sucker.  Maybe I am.  But we will see if it works.  What can I say... it appealed to my inner hippie and the demo they did was pretty crazy.  Also I just think it's a neat. More on this later.
  • I got a long sleeved tech shirt from an old race for $3.  And a second shirt from Cap City half that I did in May, just it's a small so it's a little snug. (also for $3).
  • Lots of possible races for winter and spring... pretty psyched
  • I have figured out my pacing strategy:  I'm aiming for a 4:43 finish which averages to a 10:50 pace/mile.
    • I'll run the first 6 miles at 11:20, 11:15, 11:10, 11:05, 11:00, and 10:55 respectively.  
    • miles 7-18 will be at a 10:40-10:45 pace if I can maintain it with my heartrate at the usual level for a long run (under 180ish)
    • miles 18-26 will be whatever I gotta do to get to the finish, hopefully will have some energy in the bank from doing early miles slower

2 comments:

  1. Good race plan. I'm nervous and excited for you at the same time!

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  2. Wowza, that's a lot to weight to lose so quickly .... be careful, little vegan friend! Sounds like there were lots of cool things at the expo!

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