Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Conundrum

I have a conundrum.  I like races.  I would think that everyone like races.  I mean it's great to actually run with a group of people instead of that little guy in your head when you head out alone each morning (unless you have a cool running partner like I do!).  Races are great because of the camaraderie between runners you haven't even met!  We all get together because we have the same problems: IT band, runner's knee, back problems, stomach issues, traffic, time constraints, weight loss, plantar fasciitis, running routes...

But we all experiences these issues, and we thus have a large network of people to give us encouragement.  Running is NOT an individual sport.  Running is probably the largest group sport in the world.  The Country Music Marathon will have close to 40,000 individuals running as one, from the elites to the walkers.  We're all the same.

Yes, I love races.  I have a rather important 26.2 mile race on April 19th.  The question is, do I run a 10k the weekend BEFORE the marathon?  Back in 2006 (was it that long ago?), I did run a 10k the weekend before, however I didn't have the knowledge I have know, and definitely did not have the base milage.  This particular 10k is flat, which would be an incredible chance to get a PR, something like 43 minutes or so.  The two things I'm worried about are fatigue and injury.  Fatigue I'm not worried about TOO much, because I'll be tapering already and will have a fairly easy week working up to the marathon.  Thus, injury is my largest concern.  I've not experienced an injury during a race to this point, but there is always a chance.  I would hate for 20 weeks of preparation go down the drain the week before a marathon.

What do I do?  What do I do?

Adios...I'm upset I have to watch the President again.  I mean, jeez, how much face time does he need?  I guess when you are trying to get over $3.6 TRILLION budget passed, you have to sell it...

My unborn children need a stimulus package.

(sorry about the political rant, but I just saw that Obama is having an hourlong 'speech' tonight)

5 comments:

StangLuvr said...

I say run it. Most likely you would run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that weekend like you always do. I say take Friday off. Run hard on Saturday. Rest Sunday and then taper down to race day. Wish I could go with you guys to StL and watch, but hopefully I will be running 8-10 miles that weekend to get ready for the 1/2 the next week.

If it don't rain and storm in the morning, I am going to try 3 miles with my running partner. Wish me luck. This will give the IT band a good test to see if short mileage bothers it.

Amy said...

Well... before I read the part... "This particular 10k is flat, which would be an incredible chance to get a PR, something like 43 minutes or so." I was all like... yeah, running a race the weekend before the marathon would be fine! (I ran a 10 mile race before the chickamauga, and I think that was a good thing). But... running a race and running a race to PR are two different things...

Vandy-Montana said...

Why run a race and not try to get a PR? Then I'm just paying money for a regular training run.

Old Man said...

race it, not run it. set that PR. shouldn't be much of a recovery.

Melanie said...

OMG, I know! I saw he was on again and I was like, "Umm wasn't he just on like 3 weeks ago? I don't remember Bush ever being on tv this often." If he's going to be interrupting my tv time every couple of weeks, I'm going to have to start sending some letters to the white house.