Boy, was it miserable. Saturday morning was freezing and rainy. Amanda and I both contemplated skipping it, but because we had our "Oh Sh*t" moments at separate times of the morning, we were able to motivate each other to show up. I woke up and saw that it was a light drizzle and very cold. I texted her to say I would still show up, but was in no way running if it was pouring rain. She said she would still go too, so even though I desperately wanted to climb back into bed (I'm rarely awake when it's still dark outside), I layered up and headed to Freedom Plaza. Around 7:15, I was on my way and getting a coffee at Starbucks when I got a text from Amanda saying "Have you left yet? It is REALLY gross outside." I called her and said, yes I'd left but if she wanted to cancel, that was fine with me. I stressed that the rain was just a drizzle so running wouldn't be so bad, and she agreed to go.
True Story: A guy at Starbucks asked me if I was running in the race and said he was going to cheer on friends. He said he felt really bad for us runners because of the terrible weather. He was running the Marine Corps Marathon the next day and the forecast was perfect. I laughed and told him not to feel too bad, I felt bad for him that he had to run 26.2 miles in any weather. Ba dum chhhhh.
Anywho, The race was a flat 5K starting at 12th and Penn, running up Penn towards the Capitol, and looping back to the starting line. I haven't gotten the official results yet, but I finished in about 31:00.
I prepped for the race by not working out at all the week before. It sounds silly, but my calfs and shins have been killing me, so I wanted my legs to be really rested for maximum performance. I have calf cramping issues, so I ate tons of Spinach for potassium the week before. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before the race I also forced myself to eat bananas. I hate bananas, I always have. (I love banana chips and banana bread though - don't ask me why.) I hate the texture, the smell and the flavor, I hate everything about them. But I know from past race prep, that banana potassium is my instant preemptive remedy for cramping - potassium supplements just aren't the same. That was my prep and it worked! I ran the whole thing without stopping, not even run/walking! So proud!
Yum. No. Yuck!
Amanda and I - Ready to Run. Love her parka, BTW.
Amanda also had an AWESOME tip for sneaker care after running or hiking in the rain:
Put newspaper in your kicks to soak up the water! Less than 24 hours later, my sneaks were dry and they weren't stinky with mildew. For those of us who can't stick our sneaks in the dryer because it'll cost $1.50, this is a free and awesome solution.
Smarty pants.
Overall, I am so glad my lazy butt didn't climb right back into bed at 6:30 AM because the rain really held off and the race was so fun. Amanda is much faster than me so she finished first, but right when I finished, a little after 9:00, the rain really started pouring. I told her that if this was what the weather had been 2 hours earlier, there was no way I would have run. So I guess in a way, my Motivation Cookie was right: It can't rain all the time. Or maybe it should have said: You can't blame the rain all the time. Close enough.
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