Running with Nuns

Last week, I did the Ringling Bridge Run.  The weather was great (in the 40s!) and during the flat parts, I ran pretty well.  I did not do so well on the bridge/hilly parts, which was kind of annoying.  While I was on the last part of the uphill, I was reminded that probably I could have done very well if I had done this race right after being in Australia.  Ah well.

Today was the Run with the Nuns.  This race did not go so well.  Now, as runners know, one of the annoying things about running is that you can be fine one day and not so fine the next, and often you don't know why.  I think that today's not-so-hot race can be traced to a few reasons and I wanted to share those with you in case you are trying to solve that eternal mystery of 'why did I not run faster':

1) I dressed for the start instead of the finish (and not even that): you should always dress for the temperature at the end of your race and not at the start.  This is especially important in places like Florida where the temperature can increase dramatically from start to finish.  Trust me, you won't be cold for long because barring truly cold conditions, once you get going, you will warm up.  I dressed for it to be in the mid-50s, which it was at the start.  Somehow, I missed the fact that it was humid....will I ever learn?!?  It was 57F with 93% humidity this morning--so close to the threshold of ick (only 10 units less, in fact).  I think that I was fooled because last week's race was far nicer.  However, it was also an hour earlier to start, which would have helped.

2) I did not sleep enough last night: stupid Stephen King.  This is what I get for starting Cujo the night before (and I couldn't finish it the night before because I had to get up for work).  Now from what I understand, one night of insufficient sleep isn't a disaster.  But I think that generally I did not get enough sleep over the past week.  So that was my bad.

3) Crossfit yesterday was nuts:  here is the description of the workout:

Teams of 4:
Run 400m (2-25#)
400 Deadlifts (135/95#)
Run 400m
400 Weighted Sit-ups (25#)
Run 400m
400 Jumping Lunges
Run 400m
FOR TIME
Teams must carry 2- 25 pound plates throughout the workout. If plate touches the ground, the entire team must complete 10 burpees at the time of the penalty (during the runs, the plate must be kept above the waist. During the exercises, the plate must be kept above the shoulders)

I almost quit during the second 'run 400m.'  Seriously.  It was one of the hardest workouts I have ever experienced in my entire life (if you're curious, I did not contribute fully, which is to say that I did closer to 50 deadlifts instead of 100.  You know what?  50 is still a lot).  And I was not exactly nimble this morning. So I don't think that this helped the race.  But it will help in the long run, as I'm pretty sure that it was Crossfit that helped me get my PR on the marathon.  Lost the battle to win the war, in other words.

However, it doesn't really matter why I didn't do so well because here is the t-shirt:

That is precisely the type of t-shirt I was hoping for when I signed up for this event.  Mission accomplished.