How Not to Prepare for a Race!

I was surprised when I finished my 5K race this past Saturday and even though the time was slow it was still my fastest 5K in 2013. The reason I was surprised is because I had spent the past week unintentionally beating myself up. The race was the 'Color the Skies' in Ripon, California. It was in conjunction with a kite flying competition and a balloon festival without the balloons. They are supposed to return in 2014 so that might give me the incentive to run it again. It was a nice course and Shadow Chase Running Club did a good job organizing it as usual.

I didn't know that Ripon was the Almond Capital of the World. This week I was in the Artichoke Capital of the World, the Garlic Capital of the World, the Raisin Capital of the World and I live in the Apricot Capital of the World. You've got to love Central California agriculture!

 Starting Line

They had some balloons that the inflated and they were deflated before the race finished.

HOW NOT TO PREPARE!

1. Flip your kayak not once but twice on the Monday before the race so that you have to swim it to shore and then drag it, full of water, up a steep embankment to drain that water.

Man that's heavy!

2. The next day decide to ride the wooden roller coaster at Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I went with my sister, her grandson and my niece. It was a beautiful day and there was very little wait for rides so it was a perfect time to ride it right? I wish I had taken pictures of all the bruises from that ride.

 

 3. Wear a pair of shoes that you know hurt your toes just because they are the first ones that you pick up before a tempo run.

4. Finally, when it's early in the morning prior to a race and you are doing your final preparation prior to going to the check in table with every intention of coming back to your vehicle before the race make darned sure that the key you take off your key ring and tie in your shorts or show is not this one!

Your house key will not get you back into your vehicle to get the things you need for your race. Fortunately I had the most important stuff with me including my phone so I was able to call AAA after the race and not worry about it during the race.

So those are just some of the things you might not want to do while preparing for a race. The other side of it however is that I did all of those things and was still able to enjoy the race, the day and run my best time of the year. Everything turned out just fine.