It’s all about the race, about the race, about the race . . . or what didn’t happen before the race! Or did happen, but maybe shouldn’t have. Only this time what happens in UT isn’t staying in UT.
Join me, Marcia @ Marcia’s Healthy Slice and other bloggers as we bare our souls — and our bad running habits, eating habits, the things we do even though we know we shouldn’t.
I runfess . . .
I ditched most of my runs on the schedule in favor of hiking while we were in UT. Either the altitude was getting to me, or the heat was getting to me, or I wanted to get into the park early so that we could beat the crowds.
Luckily it seemed to work for me.
I runfess . . .
I don’t really recommend walking/hiking a half just a couple of days before a race, even though that’s what I did. We did two hikes on Thursday. And I walked around town in search of my UT mug. #sorrynotsorry
The day before the race was spend driving back up from southern to northern UT, so there was some rest going on. Sort of.
I runfess . . .
Even though I’d brought along my normal race breakfast (overnight oats in a used almond butter jar), I decided against buying milk to assemble it and went with something new on race morning. It’s something I had eaten, but not hadn’t tried out before a long run or race.
Again, lucky. Apparently very lucky as GI issues hit several bloggers.
I runfess . . .
I met Marcia @ Marciashealthyslice (who gave me a ride to the start) and MB @ Tutusandtennies right on time on race morning. In fact, we actually ran into each other in the hall. When I got to the lobby, however, I couldn’t find the shoelace I’d tied to my hydration vest (it slips off my shoulder, which is annoying, but not a deal breaker — using a shoelace to hold it on works just fine).
So I rushed back up to my room, scanning the hallways for the purple shoelace; no dice. I’d actually brought a spare with me, but I had clue where that might be.
The shoelace was on my hydration pack all the time. I’d just tied it up higher than normal and couldn’t see it.
I blame the early wake up call (3 am).
I runfess . . .
I actually warmed up before the race. Truly, I did. Sort of . . . there were some squats, some lunges, but no arm swings, no leg swings, no ankle rolls . . . to say it was abbreviated is putting it mildly.
Considering it was a chilly morning and I also didn’t do a warm up run . . . well, again, apparently I got lucky.
Everybody’s luck runs out sometime . . .
What weird was the worst thing you did before a race (even though you knew better)?
What do you regret doing before a race?
What do you not regret doing before a race?
Wouldn’t you like to get some runfessions off your mind? Come join us
I am also linking up with the Friday Five 2.0 from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy today.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
When I ran Big Sur, we planned Yosemite for after the race, so I wouldn’t be wiped out from hiking!
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I used to be that way. Now, though, I find putting the vacation first to actually be helpful.
You can acclimate to climate/elevation. You aren’t jet lagged.
So far, anyway, I seem to know how much to do — and not do.
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I think it’s hard to stay off your feet when you travel to a new place for a race. I always catch myself doing way to much exploring on foot when I visit new cities!
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I think when you’re new to the half marathon, it’s not a good idea to be very active beforehand. But as you get more experienced with it — it’s okay. Within reason!
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I regret a long day of travel the day before the race. But, that seems to be my norm. I hiked a little before the race but then hiked 10 miles the day after. I LOVED IT. I think it helped with recovery too.
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We walked a lot the day after, but no hiking. I would’ve done some . . . someone gets very tired when I run 13.1 miles. 🙂
I always try to get to a race a couple of days ahead, but it’s not always easy!
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I’ve definitely had races where I had something to eat that I never tried before a long run/race…and thankfully didn’t have any issues! I would have loved to go hiking in Utah, no regrets at all! Those views look amazing!
I think that the abbreviated warmup that I had before the RNR Seattle may have attributed to my shaky start the first few miles, hmm….
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UT is definitely amazing. I don’t think I’d want to live there, but there’s so much we didn’t even get to. 5 national parks! Would you believe NY doesn’t have ONE?
It can be really hard to get a good warmup in before a race — especially RnR races!
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I use to never warm up before a race (cus i’ve usually been too tired..haha). But ever since last year, I started doing some pre-race running and that has seemed to help because in those particular races i’ve done better than I expected. I use to look at those people who would run before the race even started and think “why would they waste their energy doing that”, now I know why! Have a good weekend Judy!
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I’ve only done a warmup run before a handful of races. So the jury’s still out for me on that.
Enjoy the holiday weekend!
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I think I am going to have the same problem on our trip to Northern Cali this summer… I have so much hiking planned but also a 30k!
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We didn’t plan the hiking at all. 🙂 I mean, we knew we’d do some, but we really kind of winged it. Luckily it all turned out well.
All of CA (well, maybe not inland) is so beautiful!
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I am a creature of habit/race routine, I’ve been doing the same things for years!! Maybe I’ll try and change something up after Chicago!!
Jodi
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Nah, it’s far better not to change stuff up for a race! I actually really like my usual breakfast, but it was just awkward between the timing and catching a shuttle bus.
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Even though I tried to be careful at Tink last year, I walked way too much in Disneyland and DCA. I had a knot in my calf the day of the race, which thankfully cooperated a little bit. It’s hard to take it easy when there’s so much to see before a race.
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It’s definitely hard not to walk too much in Disney. Even if it’s been basically decades since I’ve been there — actually, especially since it’s been so long — so much more there now!
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Hiking totally counts as cross training. And yes, I would much rather hike and see that view than run. Any day!
You had a great race. Super proud of you.
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Thanks, Rachel!
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The most stupid thing I did was at Grandma’s in 2015. My training was a mess due to a lot of unexpected family stuff that screwed up my long runs, and my fueling was jacked (again because of the lack of long runs), so I experiment with fruit snacks…and made an even bigger mistake and too Gatorade at more of the stops than I really needed. My tummy was very angry with me that morning….
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I just can’t even imagine fueling a marathon. I feel like I’m constantly eating during a half, and it gets hard to keep eating toward the end.
It’s pretty amazing what you marathoners do.
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Sweet potato breakfast cookies! Okay, now those I want to try. Did you make them yourself? And yes, I think the hiking really worked in your favor. I got worried about you beforehand thinking you were doing way too much, but yay! You did amazing!
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The sweet potato breakfast cookies were from Run Fast, Eat Slow.
I think I have a pretty good feel for how much I can do before a race. So far, anyway. All those daily walks with the dogs (despite the fact they’re not steep, they’re super slow, and they’re short) probably help with that.
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Glad everything worked out for you! Ive had different breakfasts before races when traveling, and luckily it worked out ok. An depending on the timing Ive slacked off on a prerace warm up too.
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This is the first time I’ve actually gone with something untested. I mean, I’d had the cookies, but I don’t think I test them out on a long run before the race.
Luckily, in general, I have a pretty strong stomach. Knock on wood.
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You had a great race. So no runfessions necessary. Lol
When I walked 13 miles the day before a half the result was painful. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Sometimes you need a fun race and not worry about times.
I like to tour after a race not before. But usually I don’t do either because I have to work.
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I walked that amount 2 days before the race. I took it easy the day before.
I used to do the vacation thing after the race, but in general, especially going to places with very different climates, I’ve found it works a lot better for me to do it before & have time to get used to that difference.
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Sounds like you have some new pre race traditions to incorporate in the future since they all worked out so well for you!! As for me…. I won’t be eating a Health Warrior Chia bar before any races ever again! I have been snacking on them after my gym sessions and that is working out perfectly fine!! 🙂
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Well, I changed to pizza for my night before meal after my PR at PCB & that served me well. But I think I’ll be going back to my overnight oats.
I can totally understand not wanting to give the Health Warrior Bars a second chance before a race!
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