Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Training in Darkness....

OK, so last week I had gotten even more emails asking that I post on a more regular basis about my training. I'll keep them short and sweet and hopefully, you all will find it entertaining.

One of the evenings last week I had to train at night, as I was unable to be up at my normal early morning hour to train (had little sleep the night before) and there was a conflict anyway. So, the plan was after football camp was over I would head out. It would be dark, but I would train anyway. We decided to go for ice cream after football that night. It was a steamy day here and still steamy at 9PM so, ice cream sounded good. Who am I kidding, ice cream always sounds good to me in the summer. (Soft serve Vanilla that is.)

Here are my lessons from that night of training:

1. Ice cream before training, might not be the best idea. It didn't feel like it was settling all that well on my stomach that evening. But, I moved past that and didn't get sick so it was OK.
2. Late at night is not as comforting as early in the AM. At least in the AM it gets lighter outside, at night it just gets darker. I don't mind if I have someone coming along with me but, alone it can be a bit scary. (Yes, I know that makes me sound like a big baby.)
3. Bunnies and Cats are not as cute in the dark when you can't tell what kind of animal they are. Plus, I think I am more afraid of them at that hour than they are of me.
4. I was on the sidewalk, yet some cars were still slowing down when going past me. Really people? Nothing to see... Keep moving on please.
5. Bonus part, my butt shaking was only visible under the street lights and then only for a bit. I felt good about sparing the neighbors eyes from that sight.
6. I wore the safety reflective strips on my arms. I knew it was dorky, but it was safer. The bonus, those things at night can make you look really tan. :) Not that anyone except cats and bunnies are around to see it.
7. You tend to move faster when sweat is pouring off you in hot humid weather. Of course, I think this could be triggered by knowing that when you are done a cool house, shower and bed are waiting for you! That helped me.
8. Ice cream that doesn't sit well just might give you a boost of energy. (OK, so just looking for an excuse to enjoy that ice cream a bit more. I still plan to stay away from it before another training session. I'll go back to my banana and Peanut butter--my body likes that.)
9. Sidewalks try to trip you in the dark. The good news is nobody can really see that trip and you don't look like a fool except to the cats and bunnies.
10. Apparently, I need to go to a place that is hot, humid, holds the marathon in the dark, surrounded by unknown critters and serves ice cream. Because I broke my goal pace that evening. Since my marathon is in November and it could be snowing, I guess that is not on my side. Bummer!

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