The funnest part of racing is the not running parts

FIRST - the priority of the day is... SHOES


I've been wearing Saucony's for awhile - Triumph for longer runs, and Genesis for shorter/speed work.

Then I got the Brooks in Seattle, and I've been wearing those mostly for the last month - Glycerine's I wore on my 18 miler a few weeks ago, and the Pure Flow for almost everything else.

I'm a little in love with the Pure Flow, and they are, hands down, the most favorite thing I've put on my feet in forever.

BUUUUUUT. I haven't worn them for a run with any type of length - I think 7 or 8 miles is the max I've put on them at one time.

But they're purple, and match my outfit really well.

I wore the Saucony's for my 9 miles last weekend, and... boo. They're no longer my favorite, and are actually at the bottom of my shoe rotation now - I don't know that I'll wear them again.

WWYD? Chance it in the Pure Flow? Run with the Glycerine's?
These are the things that keep me up at night.
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I AM SO EXCITED to meet up with so many runners this weekend! Seriously. These races are like runner/blogger heaven.

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I was super, super, SUPER EXCITED to spend the weekend in San Francisco with BFF Becka. Sadly, a good friend of her's passed away this week.

I don't really know what to say, because, I'm pretty verbally awkward, and OBVIOUSLY I'd love to see B, but I completely get that her head is somewhere else and understand if she can't make the trip.

Words don't really seem adequate, so in place I texted her a ridiculous picture I saw on the internet machine.

Which is my way of saying, I'm sorry you're hurting, and hope you find the peace you need. And don't feel obligated to me in any way, I'm totally capable of running on my own or finding a new pace friend.

Boo.

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It kind of snuck up on me, but San Francisco Marathon is this weekend!

Did you know? A marathon is still 26+ miles?

And that you have to actually propel yourself on your feet through all of those miles?

Madness.

So, as kind of evidenced by an incredible lack of blogging lately, I'm feeling kind of undertrained and nervous. I haven't run a ton, because July has been pretty busy for me. Also because I'm lazy.

I don't know. I feel like the 5 weeks between Seattle and now was just an awkward amount of time to recover, maintain mileage, and taper, especially when you add in the week in Florida where I boycotted running through the swamp air. Poor planning on my part, but not really, since none of it could be changed. Well, except for the part where I'm lazy and didn't run. I guess that was in my control.

Anyway, needless to say, I don't really have goals for this race as far as finishing at a certain time (except for the 6 hour course limit. THAT is important).

What I'd REALLY like to do, is run a mentally strong race.

In Seattle, my brain shut down and I quit, well before my body gave up. I went in thinking that ANYTHING was possible with my body - who knows what the weather will be like, what if Jerk Shin is wonky, the hip that gave me troubles in Ragnar and PCRF, who knows. It didn't really occur to me that my mental game was going to be the first to give in. I never considered that an option.

But now that I know that it is, in fact, an option.... well, now I know. And hopefully I won't just quit.

So that's my goal - don't quit, and ignore my brain.

I know that the course is tough, and that I'm ill prepared for the hills - and yeah, I have a coach, but it's totally not her fault I sucked at following her carefully laid out plans.

A small PR wouldn't suck, either. But pretty much, if I run ANY of miles 22-26, I should nail that...

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