Everything but Air

Water

ZombieRunner Marathon is this Sunday and the forecast is for rain. Not showers, but full-out rain. 

How do you deal with shoe/socks getting soaked and causing blistering? One I idea I've heard is to put a plastic bag around your socks before you stuff them into the shoes and then tape that off around your leg to keep water out.

Anybody tried that? Don't you just sweat up the inside of the sock anyway?

Earth

The course is going to be muddy ..that will also be a first...I've been running after a rain and you end up with each shoe weight about a pound and a half after you hit the bad spots that have no gravel cover.


Ah, well.  It's a good thing the weather will be challenging: it will keep me from trying to run too fast. My goal for this race, which was a very recent signup, is to do it as a long slow run, not a race. I'm going skiing two days later and so I don't want full on marathon soreness...


I'm also angling to run a 50k (Skyline-to-the-Sea) in April and so I want to practice the kinds of paces and trail running I'll be doing for that. So I figure a 4:45-4:30 marathon will be pretty easy on me. If I run an easy 10:00 pace, and then walk 30s every mile or so that would be in that ball park and hopefully leave my legs in good shape. (This course is flat: it has one 65' hill you go up twice).


Anyway, that's the plan, take it easy, enjoy the fun of a small race (only 50 full marathoners signed up) ,  on my favorite training trails, in the rain and mud!

Here's some full pics the race director took of the course.




Fire

Last night we watched Chariots of Fire.....this movie won Best Picture in 1981 and it was good then and still good now ;). Very well made, kept pretty close to the truth (with a few bendings here and there but not too bad).

The opening and ending scenes with the now-iconic music and the runners running barefoot in the cold surf is not to be missed.

The only downside is the longest races they talk about is the 800 ;)

One funny thing is the bizarre running  form for the  Liddell character. He's got this kind of clawing at the air and putting his head way back with mouth wide open thing happening at the last sprint in every race (the pic shows him doing it a little bit)



It was good for getting the juices flowing in preparation for Sunday...

-paul