Have you ever tried to eat 120 g of carbohydrate in one sitting? Nearly impossible! That's what my nutritionist instructed I ingest for breakfast, along with 20 g of protein, and less than 30 g of fat. Now, I know I'm a bit of a protein whore, and who doesn't like a little fat, but 120 g of carbs? What to do!?
I sat down and started to try to sort out some combinations. I ran through Post-it after Post-it note, surprised every time by the math. I thought an egg would be nice, or two; but that shot me up way too high on the protein scale and did nothing for me in terms of carbs. Scrap the eggs. And definitely scrap the soy cheese I was going to put on them. Bagels would be high carb... I looked them up on line. Only problem, I didn't have any bagels and wasn't so interested in leaving the house. (I've got a wicked head cold and congestion that just won't go.) What else could I find around the house?
There was a can of fat free vegetarian refried beans - yum - and a few whole wheat pitas I could spread the beans on. Delicious! But a half a cup of beans only went so far... There was a damn pita left. I added a tablespoon of peanut butter... and that tapped out my protein allotment for the morning and I was still painfully short on carbs. I added two tablespoons of jam. I have a suspicion that wasn't the kind of carbs I was supposed to be eating but really, what the heck! I've never felt so force fed in my life! When all was said and done, I was still short 20 g of carbs so I told myself I'd find a sports drink someplace, but I never did.
Then I went down to the big pre-race Expo. I've never been to one, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was held at the Roseland Ballroom. Every time I go there I think of the first time I went in HS to see a Nine Inch Nails concert. Trent Reznor had pulled me up on stage from the pit, and then he sang "Head Like a Hole" to me while I sat there on my knees in front of the entire theatre; and then spit coffee on me. Really, a highlight of my teen years! Says a lot, doesn't it!
Later, after college, I was living in LA and met Trent at a party in the Hills. I didn't recognize him with his unassuming broad rimmed Amish-style hat but I'd been told in advance who he was. Since we had nothing else to say to each other, I filled the void by telling him about the spitting incident. Clever of me! When I was done, we just stared at each other and I remember thinking he looked so small and sort of sad, not the dominating rock star who had dazzled me at 17. "Sorry," he finally said and I said back, "It's OK," and then we both looked out across the grid of streetlights below, quietly taking sips from our red Solo cups filled with Sprite.
Anyway, today, Roseland was transformed into a "girl power" emporium for the Expo! I picked up my race number, and my goodie bag filled with samples of panty liners, deodorant, and teeth whitener, and perused the booths. I bought a few last minute things, but nothing major.
There was a talk being given then by a panel of running stars, and as I sat down to listen, I realized it was being moderated by my very own Gordon Bakoulis! The panel was interesting and I got a ton of tips about stretching before the race, how to handle fear and sleeplessness, what pain medicine to take (Tylenol - NOT Advil - for 24 hours before a race), and anecdotes that made me feel part of an amazing community. One surprising thing I heard was the women's answer to the question, what's the most important thing you need as a woman who runs. The answer from everyone, with a bit of a giggle, was, "A good husband!" Making running part of your life in an ongoing, serious way - not just as a competitive runner, but even as a novice - really requires serious support. If you're going to have a family, you just can't do it if everyone in the house doesn't think your running is a priority. That came across loud and clear.
After the talk was over, I waited in line to say hello to Gordon and thank her for the training schedule she'd made, and I'd followed. I was thrilled when I first introduced myself and she said, "Of course! I'm following your blog on facebook!" So exciting!
So, tonight I'm doing laundry (I feel like I'm always doing laundry...) and organizing my things for tomorrow. I'll be getting up at 5 AM to take my synthroid, then eating at 5:30 AM, then leaving the house at 7:20 AM to get to the Park for the race's 8AM start. Sarah Hine is meeting me at the start of the race to pump me up and tell me it's gonna be OK! Then Jolynn, Rob and Jill are all going to be staked out along the route to cheer me on. It's possibly going to be raining, and cold, so I guess we'll see how it goes tomorrow but just knowing my friends want to be there means everything to me. I might not have a good husband, but I've got the best friends anyone could ask for. It does take a village and don't let anyone tell you it doesn't. I only wish I could get my villagers to help me with my laundry too but that might be asking too much...
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