Did the National Women's 8k this weekend; it was an inaugural event, but I think they did pretty well. One of the nicest courses I've done -- it was all in Potomac Park, so there was really nice shade throughout, it was really pretty, and the road didn't have all the potholes and banking I'm (sadly) used to. And because I was doing the 8k at the same time as the half marathon, it was a nice feeling to not be finishing dead last, so there was still stuff happening at the finish. I think the post-race options could have been improved (also, I wanted to shoot fire at everyone taking multiples of all of the post-race food/drinks, including people who hadn't done the race, particularly the woman in front of me who was filling up her boyfriend's backpack with the fruit/granola bars/etc. As someone who is routinely among the last to finish, it's really disheartening to find empty food tables and no water/gatorade when you desperately need something. These people suck. Don't be one of those people.)
Anyway. The medal was lovely, the course was nice, it was overall a nice time, although there was definitely room for improvement. A bit colder than I'd have liked, and super-windy to boot, but I didn't envy the half marathoners doing miles 11-13 in full sun. The long walk to/from the car was a bit rough, too, as was the early start from b'more, but that's the limitations of doing something in DC...
Personally, I did all right -- still quite a bit slower than I was at this time last year, which is frustrating, but I couldn't push it any faster than I did, my foot is still quite sore today. Hoping the orthopedist can give me some hope for the future when I see her on Wednesday.
Questions:
- Warmup: usually walking to the start, probably not enough...
- Cool-down: definitely not enough; slow walk (or sometimes limp...) to the car/home. After the long distances, about 20 minutes after finishing, all I want to do is eat/shower/sleep, and it takes all the willpower in the world to not be doing all 3 at once.
- Queue: love the Tower of Terror pre-show and Haunted Mansion queue (that's all my favorite aesthetic to begin with), and even though it's not a "ride" I enjoy the queue/preshow for the Muppets 3d.
- Stats for April: no totals, I haven't been tracking since I'm not back on any sort of regular routine yet.
I did realize today, though, that teaching in a preschool classroom and having to circulate amongst the students in their tiny seats totally replaces the need for a squats workout. Oof.