Friday Favorites - Race Prep!
Dealing with taper crazies by thinking about some of my favorite running things
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It's here! It's here! Taper crazies, taper tantrums, (half) maranoia - all the insanity that comes with rest and nerves leading up to race weekend. The Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh half marathon is this weekend and I'm giving mile 7.5 to 8.7 a big ol' stink-eye for that ugly hill I'll have to run up. (And that's already the toughest section of a half marathon in my opinion, so I don't need any hill to make it worse!) Fine, fine, after a weekend on the Appalachian Trail I shouldn't complain about a measly ol' 163 feet elevation change. I shouldn't complain...but I still will. Bah!
But since it's Friday I've got a few things on my radar to celebrate the weekend!
1) Born to Run
Y'all, if you haven't read (or listened to) this book*, stop what you're doing and go read it right now. I'll wait. I listened to it on audiobook this fall and I've wanted to shout its praises from the hilltop for months, but I'm a slacker and have epically failed with Friday Favorite posts, so that plan fell through. "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" pulls together characters, science, geography, and races and gives you a story that is compelling even to those who hate running. (Don't believe me? Just read the Amazon and Goodread reviews!) It will leave you in awe about what the human body can do and will make you appreciate running buddies and athlete communities.
2) Runner tracking
Hey! Did you know you can track runners at Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh?! Actually...I'm not advocating that you track my running because I've been all over the place with performance this training season - clocking some slow runs that felt like agony and some of my fastest runs that felt amazing - so I'm anxious about this race, buuuuut if you know someone else who is running you can track them! http://www.runrocknroll.com/runner-tracking/
Who's ready for more bling?!
3) Races for a cause
I'm totally selling out running a for-profit race this spring (gahhhh I'm sorry!!) but the good news is the Not So Normal race in Carrboro (the same race I ran last spring) is also this weekend and they are awesome about supporting local non-profits in the area. As part of their bib pick-up they're collecting kids' books for First Pages and food items for TABLE. Yup, it's good to be Not So Normal.
Photo credit: Not So Normal and Capstone Photography
Do you have any running favorites on your mind this week? Let me know in the comments!
Pilot Mountain State Park in North Carolina is a popular place for hikers and runners, and is one of my favorite spots. It is close to Winston-Salem and has a very distinctive profile that lends it nicely as a landmark for navigation, and can be easily seen from some places in the Blue Ridge Mountains.