Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Double down and done

With a final "sprint" down the street and past my house, my last double day was finished.

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There was 7.3 miles of northeast Indiana hills (read: road bumps) and 4 miles of pushing it with my husband to bring me to 11.3 miles (if you are bad at math) and finish my training for Hood to Coast.

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I'd like to say that the ending of two-a-days was bittersweet, that I waxed on about how much I'll miss them as I ran through the park with Mark ... but I'd be lying. My legs felt like lead for the first mile of the second run, and I felt slightly homicidal as my husband pushed the pace, exclaiming "I feel good today."

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Good news for my Team Lemonade compatriots and my BFFs who have sworn to bail me out if I ever go to jail, I did not throat-punch him as we ran up a neighborhood hill and land myself behind bars. Nor did I do any real damage when I mislanded on a broken bottle at 6 a.m., causing my ankle to go right and my foot to go left.

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Rather, I'm as healthy and as strong as I'm going to get for this experience. I'm part floating in a surreal haze that my flight leaves in just one week and part living in sheer panic. No worries from my previous post that I'm giving myself a stroke about leaving Miles. It's more the former fat girl who spent prime social development time huddled in a corner, picked on and embarrassed. I will spare you the neuroses.

You're welcome.

For all those relay vets out there, what are your tips leading up to the race? Will you fit in my carry-on?

6 comments:

  1. Straight up laughed aloud at "throat-punch". So good.

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  2. Are those compression sleeves? Do you like them better than the socks?! And do you run in them all the time? Starting my first half training and I love them after, but wonder if doing long runs if I should try?

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    1. I am wearing compression sleeves. They are ProCompression. I don't usually wear compression during a run but my legs were pretty tired, and I thought it couldn't hurt to wear them. My compression MO is anything over 9 miles for the day after a run and the night before a race, while sleeping. I have both socks and sleeves, and I like them equally. I would definitely wear sleeves to run as you can wear socks that you know won't chafe. For recovery, the sleeves are helpful if you wear sandals or shoes that don't require socks.

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  3. Way to get in so many double days! You're going to rock at HTC!! Can't wait!

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  4. Yay!!! I also loved that Mark said, "I feel good today." Awesome.

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  5. Noooo! Keep the doubles after the race! They are so fun! LOL. Just skip running with the person with fresh legs.

    One week! YAY!

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