My First 25K is TOMORROW!

Here are 5 thoughts for my race tomorrow. The first one is the most important.


• 1: DON'T OVER-THINK IT! Go out easy, try to hold 6:30s, but ease up if it seems too tough.
I don't want to have to suffer for the last 12 miles if I start out too fast in the first 3.5 miles. (I think that was a big issue of mine at the Rochester Half Marathon.)


• 2: The goal is to finish, but try to break 1:45.
Here are some splits for a 25K (15.5 miles), and it goes from "best day possible" to "I hope to finish." I have NO idea how I'll be able to do, but these are some possibilities:

- 6:26.1 / mile = 1:39:59. Anything sub-1:40 would be great!
- 6:30.0 / mile = 1:40:58.
- 6:32.5 / mile = 1:41:37. That's my Rochester Half Marathon pace from 2 weeks ago.
- 6:45.5 / mile = 1:45:00. Trying to break this.
- 7:00.0 / mile = 1:48:44.

• 3: Body Glide, Aquaphor, and Vaseline EVERYWHERE.
At the Rochester Half Marathon, I bonked and really lost my form. Because of that, I ended up with a blister UNDER a blood blister UNDER a callous by the end of the race. Here's what it looked like a WEEK later:

It's a callous with a blood blister under that with a regular blister under that.
The blister runs from the top-left of my middle toe to the lower right of it. Super.

I also got a SORE blister under my big toe, but that was so deep that it was hard to photograph. So before the Victory 10K last weekend, I "Aquaphor-ed" the hell out of the toes on my right foot. That REALLY helped. No new issues. Here's what my foot looks like now (2 weeks after the half marathon):

Still nasty. But it doesn't hurt.

I hope it won't give me any problems during the 25K!! I'm gonna lube the hell out of it pre-race. After this race, I'll start peeling off the gross skin. Yuck.


• 4: 15.5 is a lot longer than 13.1.
This was essentially the warning that Scott Davis (I THINK it was Scott) gave me and Jeremy at the 10K last weekend. He said that it's just 2.4 miles farther (of course), but it's a horrible 2.4 miles farther. I want to be ready for that. That's yet another reason to go out easy!


• 5: Time to bring back the Speedos!!!
I'm planning on wearing one of my 2 bright Speedos:

The "Pinky and the Brain" shorts or....


.... the "Tutti Frutti" shorts.

I figure it's smart to wear one of those for 2 reasons:

First: I can pin my race number on the legs of those shorts in case I want to take off my top (if I get too hot). I WISH I had done that in my last 2 races (where I got HOT), but I was just wearing my tiny "Bowl Full of Sunshine" shorts, and there's hardly any room to pin on a number.

Second: If I DO get hot and start dumping water down my body, the Speedos are not see-through. My "Bowl Full of Sunshine" shorts tend to turn to "cling wrap" when they get wet. I had to be careful walking around after last weekend's 10K because I thought I could start scaring and scarring children.

(Oh, I also want to wear a Speedo to honor Chris as seen in one of yesterday's "Friday Funnies." Click that link or scroll down if you don't know what I'm talking about. It's awesome.)


Soooo, the race starts at 8 am on Sunday (tomorrow), and it's VERY spectator-friendly. It's easy to see us go by 3 or 4 or 5 times if you're near the middle of this route between the lakes:

2.5 big loops of the 2 lakes.

Come on out and bring a camera! Look for a bright Speedo, and give me some support! Check back on Monday to see how it all went. Thanks!