Dressing for Success

What to wear for Stonecat 50?  Hmmm…. Based on the weather forecast, I’m thinking I might settle on this get-up:

No?

Well, if you’re in New England and caught up in the Hurricane Sandy hype, you know why.  The storm is supposed to blow in dangerously close to the New England coastline prior to race day – phew!  However, if it’s the rainmaker it’s supposed to be, the 50 miles of trails I’m slated to run will be a little muddy.  OK, a lot muddy.  Stonecat is notorious for at least one good sized water crossing.  There’s no way around it; you just slog through it.  Some wear plastic bags over their shoes, but most just run through it and hope for the best. 

I’m like everyone else in that I check the weather prior to any race.  I try to avoid getting stressed out about it, but use it more to be as prepared as possible for whatever conditions I get that day.  I’d prefer a bright, cool-ish day of course.  You know, the kind where you start out in layers and slowly lose the layers as the race goes on.  50 miles is a brand spankin’ new distance for me, so I imagine there may be lots of layering, stripping, re-layering, stripping again. Rinse, repeat.

Since I can’t control Monster (oops, of course I meant Mother) Nature, I’ll choose to control how I pack and how I mentally manage a potentially 12 hour day of running.  I’ll be prepared for sun, rain, wind, snow, and even locusts.  I’ve trained too well to be distracted by a hurricane.  I am woman-runner, hear me roar!

 

9 days....SHRIEEEEK!!!!