Cereal for dinner is just the beginning of my crazy
In times of stress, I have been known to do silly things. And consider them to be completely normal.
I eat cereal for dinner, turkey sandwiches for breakfast and Starbucks for lunch. I wake up in the middle of the night and watch infomercials, I run outside, by myself, in the early hours of the morning and I sing in the car like no one can see me. In a moment's notice, I've bought a house, booked a villa and jumped in the car on Friday night to go to Vegas for the weekend. And I've been so lucky, not once has any of these things turned out badly. Even the infomercials.
The thing that resonates most with all of this is that none of it is probably that silly after all. It's just me, and how I do things. Which, perhaps, is why when agreeing to be on a team for the Wasatch Back Relay, I didn't feel strange at all. I was all excited and psyched and ready.
Well, that was two months ago.
Now that it's about six weeks away, I'm freaking out. I don't know if I can be ready. I'm scared of running in the middle of the night. I don't want to let my teammates down. I want to be able to rely on my body. I want to feel like this was not a stupidly insane choice and that my body (and mind) is capable of running three legs of a relay. I want to stop asking myself "what were you thinking when you agreed to this?" I just don't know how.
Yeah, yeah, relax, breathe, follow the training plan, you'll be fine. Yeah, okay. Thanks. But in case no one noticed, THIS IS A LOT BIGGER DEAL THAN CEREAL.
13 comments:
You'll do fine! I'm actually really jealous. I've always kind of wanted to do a relay, one of these days I'll get involved in one. Can't wait to read your experiences. Running in the middle of the night can be fun!! (and FYI, I've been known to get up and eat leftovers of casserole or soup for breakfast just cause it sounds good and cereal for dinner is quite often!)
I would be more concerned for you if you weren't freaking out just a little bit - that's a healthy thing. It shows that you understand that your body has limitations and that you will be challenging yourself to overcome them. That being said, you're strong enough and smart enough to do this! You can do it!
My sister did one of these and actually I think it is the same one Sempre Libra did in Oregon - she loved it and had a great time. Which I know you will too!
I'm just jealous that you can DO this... me? I'd be in a puddle of goo in no time. (Can you say, "couch potato"?)
Oh, and cereal? Good anytime....
Sounds like this relay fits with your personality just fine. I think it would be run to be on a relay team...what a blast! You'll be fine.
yeah so that IS bigger than cereal but you're going to handle it fabulously, like you do everything else. :)
I've done two overnight relays and two day long relays, so I have advice! (I bet you are surprised...)
To get ready: start running twice a day. You need to do this before race day so you'll know how it feels. Go out in the morning, then the evening. The first couple of times you'll feel kind of sluggish in the evening, but then it will get better. This is important!
The ziplock bag tip is a good one - I do that for all my relays. Bring wipes and small towels too. Also, pack food and drink for between legs.
Running at night is not a problem for me since I run in the early morning dark all winter. However, it can be scary on a deserted stretch of road. What we do is have the van play leapfrog. They drive just ahead, so they can see our light, then pull over. Once you get up to them, they do it again.
You could go back to July of 2006 and read my report on the Rainier to Pacific Relay if you are interested. Mostly what I will tell you is that they are a blast. There's nothing quite like a van full of tired and sleepless runners!
This sounds like such fun and quite exciting. Relax and enjoy. You will be fabulous! Can't wait to read about your experience.
You'll do just fine. You always do. Stop stressing over it. You'll just make yourself miserable. Show up and do what you know how to do. Everything else you did w/o putting thought into it seems to have worked out. Why shouldn't this?!
I have a feeling (and my feelings are always 'right') that you are going to do fantastic! And I agree with Bre, it would be unnatural NOT to freak out. You will be awesome and I can't wait to hear more about it!
The relay seems cool. Of course you will be ready. Of course you can run at night. It's better than informercials.
hi, i think it's my first time here... although i've seen you around some fantastic blogs!
i think it will be great, and you will do great!
i do the cereal and turkey thing too. at odd times. sometimes i have salad in the morning. oops.
Come on, not even the infomercials were bad?
You must have a great lucky rabbits foot.
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