I’m apparently still Thinking Out Loud about getting outside your comfort zone. I guess my trail race has that weighing heavy on my mind!

No matter what happens, chocolate makes everything better, right?

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
— Eleanor Roosevelt

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable
That was something mentioned in one of the AMR podcasts I listened to on my last trip. I still have problems with that, I admit (in fact, I might just runfess it tomorrow).

Sometimes I can push myself outside of my comfort zone, and sometimes I just can’t. Sometimes it ends well, and sometimes it doesn’t.

I see, though, how easy it is to get stuck in life. So I’ll keep trying. Sometimes I won’t be able to unstick myself, I know, but I hope that I never stop trying.

Just how do you dry out the bladder?
From a hydration vest, that is. No matter what I do, it seems, there is always some water stuck in the bottom. I’m worried that TSA will take it away from me!

I considered abandoning run/walk
For the trail race, that is. Because if the hills are really steep, I will add in extra walking. On my next to last long run I found myself pondering it. Just run until I can’t? Walk the hills and then just run?

Then I realized I’d done all my training using my run/walk intervals. And as I wrote about on Sunday here, that’s what training is: practicing what you’ll do in your race.

So I guess I will stick to my run/walk intervals. And if the hills are really steep (or the trails more technical than advertised), I’ll just walk where need be.

I experimented on my last long run — skipping walking intervals when the trail was fairly flat. It seemed to slow me down, actually. I’ll let you know what happens during the race. It’s still going to be a play it by ear sort of race.

Which hydration vest?
I’m pretty sure I’ve actually made my decision, and I think I’ll be taking the Camelbak with me (thank you, Mr. Judy), providing I can actually dry the thing out in the next couple of days..

My cheap one actually feels a lot lighter, despite holding the same amount of water, and I like that it has an on & off lever. But the Camelbak doesn’t bounce around as much, due to the chest strap, I believe, and that makes it less annoying. Plus the cheaper one seems to chafe my neck a little — the farthest I ran with it was 10 miles. Hoping for no neck chafing!

Which pretty clothes should I wear?
There is the usual debate on just what the heck to wear. Will it rain, or won’t it? I’m assuming it’s fairly shady, and therefore cooler than actual forecast temps — but I don’t know.

What I do know is that’s there is a very good chance that whatever I wear will end up getting muddy. The race is called Mud & Chocolate, after all.

While it’s possible I’ll wear a skirt, I’m leaning towards capris. So there are my black capris from Athleta or my capris from Skirtsports above. I’ve tested both out on long runs. Both of them have two front pockets and a zippered pocket in the back. I’m leaning towards the Athleta capris, just because they’re not my pretty Skirtsports capris (although I do like both).

And if you want to try out Pocketopia — which I highly recommend (or almost any Skirtsports products) for 20% use code SPRINGCPT20.

Come run Utah with me
Don’t forget that code crj15 gets you 15% off of your registration for the Utah Valley Marathon (your choice of three race distances). The price goes up on March 2, so register today!

I’m running the half, and quite a few other bloggers will be racing, too.

Disclaimer: I make a small amount of money if you register using my code.

Bandit update
I do believe he’s back to normal as far as the crate and mornings go.

Did I tell you about the pug? I don’t think so. So one of my neighbors is pet sitting an elderly pug; she’s about Lola’s age. The first time everyone met nothing too surprising happened, but Bandit seemed very interested in her and there was a lot of tail wagging, but no unusual behavior.

The next time we saw her, he went ballistic — but not in an I-want-to-eat-you way but more a I-love-you-and-need-to-play-with-you way.

He rarely plays with Lola more than a couple of seconds, despite her best efforts. Which is really sad, considering how much she loves to play, and she has been stuck with dogs twice who just aren’t that into her.

Talk to me. Tell me in the comments:

Do muddy running clothes clean up easily?

If you have multiple furkids, do they play well together?

Do you like pushing outside your comfort zone?

I’m linking up with Amanda at Running with Spoons for her: