and I owe it all to my fans: Marko (navigator), Nikolai (who studied with us in Belgium who is American but lives in Strasbourg and will be in Paris with us, too, and is visiting me now) and Soran (Nik's Kurdish friend from Iraq who lives in Rome and was visiting for the weekend and left this morning). They followed me on bikes, cheered me on, gave me orange wedges, and encouraged me to eat a large breakfast before the run, which is reason number two for how well the run went: nutrition.
I followed Minken's (free?!) advice about fueling up every five k's. I started at 10k with a pill (gatorade in pill form, if you will), then at 15 had a gel, then at 20 a pill, and so on, with a couple of dried apricots from Marko and lots of water (thank you, camelbak, old friend). I had two fuel-ups in the last 7 k's.
At the end I even had enough in me to sprint to the finish. My watch says 3.24.52 which is more or less correct but I goofed up the chronometer at some point and had a potty break in there, too. I am happy with this result, since it's more or less the same time I had for my 18.7-miler a little over a month ago.
Pictures to come.
Thanks again to Marko, Nik, and Soran.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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For all navigators: cycle paths are good, but pay attention to traffic lights. They can break the pace. Next time we have to find a horn and some flashing lights :-)
ReplyDeletePS blame me for the absent pictures. Will send, promise!
MORE traffic lights, please, navigators, especially from about kilometer 25 on... hahaa
ReplyDeleteGood job, girl! And I'm glad you had all kinds of help.
ReplyDeleteHope Nikolai sang some encouraging cow melodies to you en route. :)
I am soooo jealous of your entourage! I am getting used to flying solo, but can't wait to have 36,999 friends to run with in Paris.
ReplyDeleteLaura, um, Those 36,999 people running with us are actually MY entourage. You're going to have to bring your own...
ReplyDeletewow I love the sounds of your support crew :) great run
ReplyDeleteI will have to look out for those gatorade pills here as my husband has an ultra to run in July and they sound perfect for the distance
With an entourage like that you either need an aptly named HBO series named after you, or you need to change your name to a gangsta name, which really is not a name afterall (but more of a product or catch phrase)...(fiddy cent, or Snoop Dawg, or perhaps Vanilla Ice).
ReplyDeleteThanks B.H. and A.G.R. for your support. You are great peeps. Also, A.G.R. good on the ultra running hubby and great job in your training for the hilly Spanish marathon you're gearing up for!
ReplyDeleteMinken: If you're looking for me, I will be the one running with a white fur cowboy hat. I'll leave the walkin stick' at the finish (where it will come in handy!). Any ideas for a gangsta name?