Saturday, October 3, 2009

21 hours! Bring It!

Until the start of Milwaukee Marathon! Finally under one day to go-I'm almost relieved. My head is kind of spinning a little, maybe because I've got so much to do today, including Bingo set up at out church, a birthday party for one of our friend's kids, repack my gear for tomorrow AM, finalize my MM playlist. I should cut the grass today, but I have a feeling I won't get to it. No sweat-the grass can wait, not like its going anywhere! Not feeling nervous, just want to get there tomorrow and get going!

Last night, we hit the MM Expo and did packet pick-up. We got there late-only had about 1/2 hour to walk around, and I was surprised there were as many vendors and gear (read: goodies!) as there was. I guess when an event like MM is in it's 29th year, there is going to be good support. So, packet p/u was easy, some goodies, not as much as I would've liked, but hey, what can you do? So they gave us the running shirt (long sleeve, it is October in WI after all), a sport drink, Biofreeze (YES!), and running flashy, blinky red light, timing chip, race #, and lots (and LOTS) of pamphlets on other events for later this year and next year. Here is the MM shirt and something else I've been wanting to pick up for some time now:

Yep, I bought it, "The Stick". I've read several articles in various magazines about The Stick, and how some of the pro athletes and trainers swear by them, not only for aiding recovery, but for warming up the muscles pre race. They had them for a very good price, so I picked up a mid sized one. I tried it a little last night and today, massaging the legs, and I tell ya what, my legs do feel better, it gets deep into the muscle, and you don't have to push super hard-or have to con your significant other into rubbing your legs for an hour. The instructions say to roll about 30 times, maybe up to 50 if you have a bunch of knots, so it goes very quickly. I'm liking it- I will be bringing it with for post race massage-although I've promised myself a 'professional massage' after the race tomorrow, if the lines aren't too long that is!

My gear bag is packed, here it is:

I will unpack it at least once tonight, and go over everything to make sure I'm not missing anything. This is my pre-race ritual, night before unpacking and packing, looking over everything brings a sense of satisfaction and a kind of positive mental state before bed.

Other cool things, I got my Fizik saddle Thursday, talk about fast shipping! Here it is, I'm digging the color coordination:


And I was playing with the Giant, starting to fit the new FD cable, when I realized my Polar F6 bike mount was still on the handlebar. I figured, what the heck, lets try to fit the Garmin to the F6 mount, here are the results:

It fits, and it fits GOOD!

I'm probably going to order a new set of Look Keo Sprint pedals today-found 'em on eBay for under $90, and they're red, so they will match the Giant perfectly. This way, I can give my wife her pedals back, which I "borrowed" earlier this year and have not given back yet (long side story-I bent one of the shafts on my 'good' pedals, my Look Keo Carbons, telling me I need to lose some weight, 'cause I don't think I generate that many watts of power!).

The 'Tour de Java' is set for next Saturday, I will be riding instead of running Al's Run in Milwaukee-I think I need a break from the running race grind, and want to ride now!

I've been playing with my MM playlist, I don't have time to list ALL the songs, but here are the artists, which I've bunched up songs by, in some sort of illogical order which might help me as I run (who knows about this!?!):

Counting Crows
Five for Fighting
Jackson Browne
John Mayer
The Offspring
Paramore
Pearl Jam
REM
Shinedown
Simple Minds
Skid Row
Survivor (Eye of the Tiger-got to have this on a long run!)
Toad the Wet Sprocket
U2
30 Seconds to Mars

Just over 4 hours of music; this is still subject to change or course, depending on how much time I sit and ponder the list later tonight, but quit the eclectic mix, hope it keeps my legs moving for that 4 hours. I know one thing-in under 21 hours, I'm going to find out! All I can say is...BRING IT!

1 comment:

  1. Love BioFreeze! And I like the mix of artists on the playlist, looks like some good tunes to get you through the 26.2 miles!

    Good luck! Can't wait to read about it.

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