Good morning!
Well, I was right, I was working until about 10pm last night. But, I have great news– almost everyone has confirmed their donation for Shop 4 A Cause 2! I was actually blown away by how fast everyone made their donation and even emailed to tell me about it. A HUGE thank-you to everyone for making this such a smooth process! The fact that we had over 55 auctions and 52 of them are now paid is really, really amazing. THANK YOU so much!
The heat wave continues and so does the Banana soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats parade!
Recipe can be found here. Toppings included raw cacao nibs and Nature’s Path Rice Crisp cereal again. So much crunchy goodness!
I did not use a frozen BROWN banana today, but a nice yellow one. It made such a difference in the banana soft serve. It ‘whips’ a lot more and gets much more creamy.
Every last drop.
The Wedding Planner
I don’t know how I forgot about this, but Eric and I have a wedding to go to the night before my half marathon this weekend! We got the invitation long after I had booked my half marathon last year, but I didn’t want to miss a wedding just because of a race, so we agreed to go. However, now I am starting to get a bit nervous about being at a wedding and then having to get up around 4:30am the next morning!
A few things I am worried about:
1. EATING NEW FOOD
Number one rule of racing is not to do anything different before the race. Obviously the food will be out of my control the night before and I am a bit worried that something is going to upset my stomach. I requested a vegan dish, but other than that I have no idea what I will be eating.
2. OPEN BAR
Need I say more? I have told myself absolutely no alcohol at the wedding. Who wants to be hungover the morning of a race? Plus it is dehydrating. I am really hoping I can stick to this pledge because open bars and I go way back. :lol:
3. BEING ON MY FEET ALL DAY/NIGHT; WEARING HEELS
The wedding begins at 2:30pm so it will probably be a day spent on my feet like most weddings are. I am a bit concerned that my legs will not be fresh for the race! I ALWAYS wear heels with a dress, but I think I may bring a pair of flats with me if I want to give my legs a rest.
4. BEING OUT LATE, NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP
I am still debating what time I should leave the wedding at. I’m thinking my cut-off should be by 9:30-10pm? I think the wedding is about a 15-20 minute drive from home, so I need to factor that in too.
5. RACE PREPARATION
My plan is to prepare all of my race stuff (clothing, sneakers, water, hat sunglasses, sunscreen, Garmin, music, etc) tonight or Saturday morning so I don’t have to worry about it Saturday night or Sunday morning. I am also going to do Vegan overnight oats and make that Saturday morning and pop it in the fridge so it is ready come Sunday morning.
Have you ever had to deal with weekend social outings when you have a long workout or a race the next day? Do you skip it or go out and modify your evening? Any tips for me and how I should handle Saturday?
See you this afternoon for 1,000 words…errr….12,000 words. :biggrin: *wink, wink*
Sounds like you’ve already given it a lot of thought! I definitely think having everything prepared to go before the wedding is a good idea, and as for the shoes, go with flats, girl! I love wearing flats with my dresses!
I would have trouble with the open bar thing and the curfew too. It’s so hard to not drink or stay out late when everyone else is! But I would definitely do those things– running hungover, dehydrated, or with no sleep is NO fun!
I think it’s really important to go to the wedding so I think you made a good decision. I know that training is important, but if we start training so hard that we give up the things that are important to us (i.e. celebrating milestones with family and friends), then we begin to lose our identity to running…or biking…or training…whatever it is. I think it’s no problem to head in early. I’ve done the same thing before.
I had a half-marathon the day after my family celebrated Mother’s Day a few weeks ago. (We celebrated that Friday night – I had the race that Sat morning). I did my best to stay on track w/ bedtime and eating rituals. I over ate a bit and was out until around 11pm. Got up at 4:30 and ended up running a personal best. I think it’s all about staying positive!! Sometimes our schedules get the best of us, and we just have to make the most of it!
It depends on what it is whether or not I skip it to prep for the race/workout. In this case, I definitely wouldn’t skip it- just modify the night a lot. It’s a friends wedding! That’s a once in a lifetime thing for her (hopefully) and you wouldn’t want to miss out on celebrating it with her.
Wow, you are going to be quite busy, but you know what, it’s totally doable and like some of the others stated, it’s “all” mind over matter.
**No alcohol, but drink water or juice in a wine glass so it seems like you’re having a drink (mind over matter), but hydrate…hydrate….hydrate, especially because of the warmer temps you guys are experiencing up there. I’m used to that kind of heat and humidity, I live in North Texas, where today it’ll be 95 for a high….eeek!
**Good idea to have all your race stuff ready to rock for race morning including your food, then you have no worries.
**Wear comfortable shoes for sure, you want those feet fresh for race morning.
**Don’t forget the most important thing, HAVE FUN, remember this race is for fun just like your Try a Tri will be!!!
I’ve had a work happy hour (mandatory when the boss calls it) the day before a race and boy I had a time of it, not being able to consume my favorite drink in the world (Grey Goose Dirty Martini), I’ve also skipped many a social events due to an important race.
Good luck!!!
I think the most important part is that you have a plan, which you obviously do! Eat right before you leave and bring some snacks to tide you over!
WOW — what a coincidence! Just last week I finally made the decision to train for a marathon this October. Turns out, my husband’s buddy’s wedding is the DAY before, not the WEEK before as I’d previously thought. ARRRGGHHH!!!! And, it’s an hour away. I’m really torn on what to do. They’ll only get married once, but there’ll be other marathons… but I don’t have to stay out all night and party… We could drive separately since my husband will drink anyway… they won’t even miss me… etc., etc., etc. I still need to think about what to do.
Although, my husband’s buddy gave me a high-five when I told him because that’s $20 less the the bar will cost him, he said. Har har.
My husband recently ran a marathon the day after we had two weddings and he made it a point to only drink water and brought his own snacks to munch on, just in case dinner was something he was uncomfortable eating before a race. It worked well and he ran on of his best races the next day!
Don’t worry about it too much! You said you weren’t going for a PR anyway, but wanted to check out firefighters. I ran a race two weeks ago (a 5k, but I never run further than that so for me that is far) and also had a party the night before. Recap is on my blog. My plan was: go home early, easy on the alcohol. I ended up drinking way more than usually and getting home late. I also ran around town in my heels for a couple of hours and the food was not what I usually eat either. Still…I set a PR the next day and even felt great during most of the race!
I have a race this evening and I was definitely out late watching Sex and the City 2 (and drinking wine) with my girlfriends. I’m just not planning to be that fast today- haha!
I’m struggling with a similar but a bit different situation right now actually. Tonight I’m heading to a party with a lot of friends, and it should be a good time. But I have a huge final project that I have been working non stop on due Tuesday. I usually like to go in early to work on it, but ugh, I don’t know if I’ll be able to work on it as much as I would like it this weekend.
First, I think that while you should try to get to bed at a semi-decent hour, most people sleep poorly the night before the race and so losing a little sleep probably won’t affect you that much if you’ve slept well during the week.
Secondly, you should definitely slip into flats if you’re going to be dancing.
Thirdly, is is possible for you to eat most of your food early in the day so you can just nibble at the wedding. In my experience wedding food tends to be less than stellar so you won’t be missing that much.
Fourthly, I know you know this- not drinking is key.
And finally, if you just tell yourself it’s okay if you’re a little slower than usual at the race, you won’t worry so much. Don’t pressure yourself to PR and you’ll do fine!
I used to travel with teams a few years back for athletic (running) competitions all the time…we had important races…yet travelling at odd hours, sleeping in hotels, eating at restaurants where you had to take your best picks….none of us cared…it was the EXPERIENCE…tried new food, had fun at restaurants, enjoyed watching a movie at the hotel, etc….still woke up to prep for the race and did well
its the training and stuff u put along the way…but the experiences are key….we always had great results in races (despite less than ideal circumstances) and the memories i have are of the external events versus the actual events…
i bet things are going to be better than you think…you’ve done a good job of preparing for this race, and i would be willing to put money on you doing an awesome job, wedding and all!
I’m going to a wedding the night before my first triathlon so I am in the same boat! I am definitely not going to drink and I may sneak a PB & banana sandwich into my purse in case the food is too heavy.
I think the big thing will be to wear comfy shoes and try and go dance-light tonight :(
I always end up really sore after I dance for a long time!
I have a feeling that you will end up knowing exactly what you need to do in order to be prepared for your race. Definitely go, have a good time, but just be mindful and do everything in moderation. Enjoy open bar, but don’t take advantage. Have fun dancing, but don’t stay out on the dance floor all night!
Weddings are SO MUCH fun!! I have one to go to next weekend and am having a hard time picking a dress. If you check out my post today, you can help me vote for your favorite! I’ll take any advice I can get :-D
3 girls in my half-marathon training group had a wedding the night before our half. They did what you suggested:
1) Chug lots of water and stay away from the open bar
2) Don’t stay out late (maybe not drinking will help with that!)
3) Bring flats (please no flipflops, it’s a pet-peeve of mine)
4) Regardless of what they serve, there will be something carby so you can do you carb-loading.
Good Luck!!!!
Haha, YES! The Friday and Saturday before the Vancouver 1/2 marathon (a Sunday) this year I spent up at Whistler for my boyfriend’s mom’s 60th birthday party. It was made especially complicated because we actually drove down from Whistler after her birthday dinner at about 9:30pm, the race started at 7:00 am the next morning here’s what I did:
1. I set everything out for my race on Friday before I left
2. Pasta is my pre-race meal, and I ate pasta at the restaurant the night before – I put in a request for whole wheat pasta and to my surprise they actually had some
3. I drank no alcohol the entire weekend
4. I slept A LOT on Friday night
5. I chugged the entire pitcher of water they left on the table
6. I made my boyfriend drive home so I could sleep in the car (I took him out to brunch after my 1/2 at his favorite restaurant as a thank you afterwards.
7. I slept a lot AFTER my 1/2, because I only really got about 6 hours of sleep – though I told myself before and during the race that I got 8, fake it till ya make it right?
Good luck, I can’t wait to hear how you do!
Just chill, relax and try to enjoy yourself on Saturday! Realistically it’s very hard to get a good night’s sleep the night before a race anyway, so Friday is much more important.
As long as your staying hydrated and trying to conserve your energy I’m sure you’ll be fine :)
Have a great race, I’ll see you there!
One of my best friends graduated college after 13 years (at least he finished!) and had a grad party the night before I had a race. I was the DD for about 4 people and I didn’t want to rush anyone home. The party was also an hour away from my house.
I can’t get a good night’s sleep before a race anyway, so I just enjoyed myself, stayed away from alcohol and ate foods that I knew wouldn’t upset my stomach. But I know that part is out of your control.
You will do great! I think your plan of action is top notch.
Why don’t you bring some Glo bars just in case any of the food looks suspicious to you?