Load up!

Whew, what a weekend! Grandma's Marathon went well for everyone in the TNC crew who was up racing. Nichole requires a couple days thought/reflection before putting up a post about the race, so expect race details later in the week, but many PR's were set and the 30+ year old course record went down, so it was a good day to be racing. In the meantime, here is a post about the leadup to the race.

After getting back from Chippewa last weekend I spent most of Saturday sleeping. Good thing too, because at 4:00 AM Monday morning I got called in to work because a pH meter had failed on one of my machines. I changed it out but could not get the new probe to calibrate. After several hours of troubleshooting and talking with tech support I finally ended up swapping some parts with another pH meter on the machine and was able to get it up and going, then I snuck out of work early that afternoon and convinced myself to get in my last solo run in before Grandma's. I started this training cycle super motivated, but the last 4 weeks the motivation to train really hasn't been there. I may have pushed a bit too hard on a couple of the longer weeks, so I have been counting on my taper to bring me back around physically and mentally. Since I had some extra time that afternoon I also baked some banana bread to bring up for the weekend. I was a bit worried because the cooking timer I was using didn't go off, so the loaves were in for longer than they should have been, but they turned out amazing, some of the best banana bread I have ever made, certainly the most moist. Now my goal will be to try to recreate this recipe if possible (my banana bread baking tends to involve a lot of estimation).

Two loaves for the trip, one for "quality control"

The bread turned out great, despite this lazy guy not doing his job

Tuesday morning was another early day, I met Nate at 6:30 to get our last Tempo workout in, 3x1200 meters just to keep the legs used to going fast. Wednesday was a technique/Video session at Vakava, so the effort level was nice and low. I have some work to do in the classic skiing technique department (I'm barely even a top 10 Birkie skier as Nate would say) which actually motivates me to get out on the rollerskis a bit more and hopefully make some strides in my technique (pun intended).

Thursday was wet so I took the day off from working out and instead joined a few co-workers for a trip to Chapati, the Indian restaurant in town, for some carbo loading. We also took a few minutes to appreciate the power of the Cannon river which is in serious flood stages after another wet week. After work I quick buzzed over to pick up my CSA share and get home for some last minute packing. Nate and Nichole picked me up in an already pretty loaded down Prius for an exciting crossing of the cannon river where it was spilling over its banks across the road we were taking out of town. We made it out of town and up to Jeff's house to pick him up. Next we headed to get Sharon at the airport, then took a short detour to Fort Snelling when we found out her plane was a bit delayed (more than the delay she already called to warn us about earlier). Her plane made it in though, and she was smart and wore her Boston Marathon jacket so she was easy to spot at the airport. I don't know for sure because I have never run Boston, but I think if you have a Boston Marathon jacket it is actually a requirement that you wear it to any other marathons you go to.

Boston Jacket, good for airport visibility and general awesomeness

We got up to Duluth and pretty much went right to bed. Sleep would be important for the next couple days, there was a lot of nervous excitement to keep reigned in, a lot of pasta to be eaten, and last minute planning and preparation to handle. Look forward to more details in the next few days...