The Day Before Chicago
So it's the day before the big race. The usual anxiety hasn't set in yet...I think that's a good thing. I had a great night's sleep...my first in about a week. I got up at 6:45 to meet Anne, Jan, Sean, and Patrick downstairs for our walk over to Navy Pier to meet G and the rest of the Gazelles. The weather was a bit warmer, no rain, but still windy. I went out in shorts with a t-shirt and a long sleeve running shirt over it. I also wore a hat and my "groves." We had a fun walk over to the pier and everyone seemed to be doing well. We caught up with most of the Chicago group and began a slow jog South on Lakeshore drive. We ran into a few packs of other runners as well as some of the elites. Some of the packs waived and yelled, but the elites just jogged quietly by and gave G the once over.
We went out about 1.75 miles, turned around and then did 5 strides in the grass. We jogged back to the starting point and then I headed back to the hotel with Anne. The others joined G and the bigger group for breakfast at the Embassy Suites. Anne had to get back to head to the expo and I wanted to take Carla out for breakfast. I drank an Endurox when I got back and started drinking my many bottles of Gatorade Endurance. I was lucky they sold them at the Expo. I drank 3 of these today to go along with all the water.
We ate breakfast at the Weber Grille...yes, the same ones they sell at Target and Home Depot. I had a couple of big pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, and a large OJ. The plan was to eat a big breakfast and an early dinner and snack in between. I walked Carla over to Nordstrom's so she could begin her day of shopping and headed back to the hotel to rest before meeting a few folks at the ESPNZone for the UT game.
I read some of my book, dozed, and watched some college football pre-game. I met Patrick in the lobby and we headed over to the Zone. The Zone had some stupid rule about spending $10 per hour per person to watch the game. They didn't have anything on the menu that we could eat the day before a race, so we drank plenty of $2.50 bottled water. Sean showed up as well as Carrie and her boyfriend. I only stayed an hour and headed back to my hotel where I purchased the game on PPV. Carla came back and joined me and we napped and watched the game. In the afternoon I snacked on rice crackers, pretzels, and dried cherries.
At 4:30 we headed over to the same Italian place where I had a big bowl of pasta with bolognese sauce. I only ate half of it along with some great bread. We headed back to the room and ordered a PPV movie, Fever Pitch. It was an OK flick. After the flick, we watched the rest of the Astros/Braves game where I dozed a bit more.
I finally went to bed around 10:30. At 1AM I woke up and was feeling my first pre-race jitters. Only hours to go!
We went out about 1.75 miles, turned around and then did 5 strides in the grass. We jogged back to the starting point and then I headed back to the hotel with Anne. The others joined G and the bigger group for breakfast at the Embassy Suites. Anne had to get back to head to the expo and I wanted to take Carla out for breakfast. I drank an Endurox when I got back and started drinking my many bottles of Gatorade Endurance. I was lucky they sold them at the Expo. I drank 3 of these today to go along with all the water.
We ate breakfast at the Weber Grille...yes, the same ones they sell at Target and Home Depot. I had a couple of big pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, and a large OJ. The plan was to eat a big breakfast and an early dinner and snack in between. I walked Carla over to Nordstrom's so she could begin her day of shopping and headed back to the hotel to rest before meeting a few folks at the ESPNZone for the UT game.
I read some of my book, dozed, and watched some college football pre-game. I met Patrick in the lobby and we headed over to the Zone. The Zone had some stupid rule about spending $10 per hour per person to watch the game. They didn't have anything on the menu that we could eat the day before a race, so we drank plenty of $2.50 bottled water. Sean showed up as well as Carrie and her boyfriend. I only stayed an hour and headed back to my hotel where I purchased the game on PPV. Carla came back and joined me and we napped and watched the game. In the afternoon I snacked on rice crackers, pretzels, and dried cherries.
At 4:30 we headed over to the same Italian place where I had a big bowl of pasta with bolognese sauce. I only ate half of it along with some great bread. We headed back to the room and ordered a PPV movie, Fever Pitch. It was an OK flick. After the flick, we watched the rest of the Astros/Braves game where I dozed a bit more.
I finally went to bed around 10:30. At 1AM I woke up and was feeling my first pre-race jitters. Only hours to go!
posted by Paco at 2:19 PM
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