Okay, so now THIS is my favorite race so far. My friend, Tami, and I drove to Port Angeles on Saturday and ran on Sunday (thanks for doing the actual driving, Tami!). It was a beautiful weekend--sunny and warm. The course was on the
Olympic Discovery Trail from Sequim to Port Angeles. Much of the run was through trees and along the beach which kept me refreshed on what would have otherwise been a hot run. It was a fantastic course! There were aid stations frequently along the course with water, sports drink, Skittles, and some other goodies. All of the volunteers were super supportive. And there was a finisher's medal that looked pretty cool!
Tami joined me after 7 miles and ran the 10K part of the race with me to the finish line. Her start time was 30 minutes after mine but she waited another half hour for me to reach her start, bless her heart! By the way, it looks like her plantar fasciitis is clearing up!! Her chiropractor did an adjustment on her ankle last week and she felt improvement immediately.
Other parts of this weekend that I really enjoyed:
1) I laughed until my face hurt while traveling with Tami to and from the race. And she got a new Fitbit. That was fun to take out of the package and set up.
2) We spent some time with our long-time friend, Jim, who moved to Sequim a few years ago. He and his niece, Kaylee, were our chauffeurs to the start of the race and cheered for us on the course. Before leaving for home, we visited his family on his farm. He's become quite the vegetable gardener! I used to run relay races with him.
3) All-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from volunteers of the Sons of Italy the night before the race. Need I say more?
4) It was also a night away from my family. I had a peanut buster parfait from Dairy Queen for dessert and didn't have to share it with any children. Watched an episode of Sex and the City and went to sleep shortly after it got dark out! Pure heaven.
Kaylee, Tami, Jim, and me at the end of the race. I went for a quick dip in the ocean after this. It was cold, cold, cold. My feet had "ice cream headaches" but the rest of me just felt numb.
STRETCHING: Ugh, I am so inflexible that I sort of look like a joke when I stretch. I cannot bend over and touch my toes. Nevertheless, I try to stretch everyday, even if it is just for 3 minutes. It is usually in the shower after my muscles have warmed up. Don't tell my husband--he doesn't like to waste water like that. I focus on my hamstrings, quads, and calves. Over the years, I have learned to stretch lightly. That means I don't push so far that it hurts. In fact, I move into a stretch and stop as soon as I feel light tension. I had a physical therapist tell me to do it this way several years ago because when I move deeper into a stretch, my muscles can rebound and actually tighten up rather than relax.
Stretching hamstrings, calves, and quads.
I have found that holding a stretch for a second has been more effective than for 20 seconds. I just started this one second method a few months ago. Before that, I used to set my watch to beep every 20 seconds and I would switch sides every time it beeped. I didn't see progress after holding my stretches for 20 seconds. With these one second stretches, I have gotten much closer to my toes than I've been in years! My theory is those muscles got tight not by flexing them for 20 seconds at a time, but rather by flexing them over and over again for very short amounts of time. So, it seems natural to stretch them back out the same way. Who knows, maybe I'm just a goof.
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