Ok, I made my decision and I’m going to race the local 5k on Saturday. The deciding factors were:

• Comments from you! Thanks for the thoughts/advice!
• The race is close to my house and awards are scheduled to happen quickly after the race so I’ll still have time to get stuff done for our move.
• This is my last Rochester race of the summer before moving to Seattle.
• I haven’t done any speedwork this week, and this will ensure I get it done.
• Frank Shorter is giving a talk and handing out awards!
• My daughter loves to watch me race and cheer for all the runners and there will be entertainment for her before and after.
• I’d like to win some cash for new running shoes.

Sign daughter (with help from daddy) made before a race earlier this year!

Today is my pre-race day where I usually run 4-5 miles. I used to try to relax the day before a race and sat around thinking/worrying about the race all day, but I found that doesn’t help – it makes me run worse! So now I take it easy on the running, short and easy pace, but keep the rest of my day as active as ever. Plus, how can you take it easy the day before a race when you have an extremely active toddler?

As far as eating goes, that will be fairly normal too, but I’ll try to avoid dairy since I’m lactose intolerant. Usually I eat a lot of cheese which I can handle normally, but for racing it doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I’ll have pasta with red sauce or tofu with brown rice for dinner and I will try to go to bed early enough to get 7-8 hours of sleep. (dependent on toddler’s sleep schedule). Before bed, I’ll lay out everything I need to race in the morning so when I wake up I’m not digging around waking up the family.

That’s my pre-race routine! Nothing too fancy!

What’s your pre-race routing like? Are you racing this weekend?