The rule of P

The rule of P is: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

It's not necessarily one that I follow with any consistency

I wonder if there's some kind of alliterative phrase for what I've actually done this week in order to "prepare" for a nearly 8-hour race tomorrow?

At least I'm only in for the half at Sunburn Solstice instead of the full

For starters, this week kicked off our year-end audit at work, so I've been throwing down some extra hours at my desk pulling samples. Not great from a stress perspective, but manageable. Unfortunately, I've also been trying to get some time to visit with my in-laws who are in town this week, which has meant some pretty late evenings.

Completely worth it, though

I did even take a day off work yesterday so I could spend a day with Tank and his folks, but I'm not sure that day "off" constituted great recovery or preparation for a long race.

We went golfing in the morning under the scorching sun.

It was a beautiful day, but could have used more shade

I had more than 11,000 steps before we left the course to go explore some local businesses, including grabbing some ice cream down by the river. As I was walking back toward the car, I stepped on some uneven ground and my left sandal sort of rolled over, tearing open a blister on my baby toe I didn't even know I had!

 

Not ideal.

Fortunately I have some blister plasters, so when we finally got home I was able to clean up my feet and apply a dressing that has it feeling pretty well fine now. I was even able to get out for a short shake-out run yesterday early evening, before heading out to dinner with the in-laws.

The blister didn't hurt, but some other stuff complained

My ankle is still pretty stupid, though it has definitely improved since I tweaked it again (GAHHH 😫) last Wednesday. It did ok during yesterday's run, after taking Wednesday off running.

..though I still walked over 5km, because I had the chance to go the pretty way down to the in-laws' airbnb..

Thursday's run, however, was only 3.5km, so I don't think that's necessarily indicative of how my ankle will behave over multiple hours. I also got sunburned yesterday (despite applying sunblock), and today I'm somehow more exhausted after finally getting 8 hours of sleep than I have been for the last few days getting less than 6hrs per night.

Oh, and possibly slightly anaemic after the onslaught of mosquitoes and deerflies on the golf course

The weather is definitely not expected to be great for "performance" tomorrow, either.

With my race not starting til 1:22pm, I can look forward to hitting the worst of the heat of the day

So basically I'll be limping along with a bandaged toe, taped-up ankle, hopefully fading sunburn, and no rest beforehand...but I'll get to see some of my favourite people, and wander around a beautiful trail on a sunny day while eating candy and cookies. 

Doesn't sound like too bad a wheeze, actually.

..then I just have to make sure I'm able to walk the next day, as the wedding for which Tanker's folks are in town (his cousin is the groom) is Sunday afternoon, and I'd rather not have to explain to all of his family members (many of whom I've only met once before) why I'm in a walking boot and/or using a cane. 

So, all I can do is show up and see...and hope for some of those amazing popsicles along the way! And hey, I guess I've already got the "Sunburn" part of the race down..