Race followed by recovery, or recovery followed by race

It's been so much fun reading all your Race reports from the whole slew of races that took place last weekend. Hope you are all recovering well. As for me, my faithful quads that stepped up the game at the critical moment(s) have been given their well-deserved rest these past few days and are now ready for action.

Tuesday, I took them out for a 2-mile run at a pace snails would have scoffed at. Today, I ventured a 3-mile run in the morning. After work, I arrived at the gym 15 minutes before spinning class....and all the bikes were taken! Yikes! I was not leaving without spinning, though. I decided to take Latin Impact class, while waiting for the next spinning class. I've always been intimidated by anything that has the slightest hint of dance in it...I don't (can't) dance, I exercise. But I've been curious about this class. I made sure I was 5 minutes early, so I could set myself up in the last row. As we warmed up to the music, I did quite well, was actually in tune with the fast, energetic music and relaxed...for about 5 minutes. Then came the salsa and rumba, requiring elegant steps as well as moving with the music. Hah! Easier said than done! I quickly realized I was the only newbie in the class. The teacher was yelling out instructions that I could barely comprehend. I often found myself stepping in the opposite direction, raising my hands when everyone else was not, and sometimes, facing backward when the entire class was facing forward. It's a good thing I don't embarrass easily. Quite effective workout, though...sweat was pouring out of every pore long before the class was over. Spinning was a breeze in comparison.

And now, as I am sure most of you are (or already have), I am planning the next race. Not the NYC Half Marathon, though I am really looking forward to it. Abby's post has gotten me very interested in the Steamtown marathon. More than the usual mildly-curious, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed interest that all runners experience when a race is mentioned in the radius of a few hundred miles. It's love at first sight is what it is. I think it's the perfect race. What is so appealing, you ask?

- It's local, as in only 2 1/2 hours away from home
- Ranked as one of the nation's 10 fastest courses by Runner's World
- Beautiful Rails to Trails along the Lackawanna River
- Just the right size for me (I am leaning toward mid-size races)
- Champion Chip timing and scoring (big fan of the chip timing)
- Engraved medals to all finishers (I am a medal maniac)

This race comes with a warning: The key to running Steamtown is managing the hills. Much of the first eight miles features significant downhills while the last few miles include several short, but challenging uphills. Many runners have set personal records here by wide margins. Others however, have failed to prepare for the hills and have crashed and burned, wondering how anyone could call Steamtown fast.

As expected, the hills scare the living daylights out of me, but after today's Latin Impact class, you understand my grab the bull by its horns mentality.
Now, this announcement is flavored with a pinch of caution...last year, after drum-rolling my training plan on my blog, I followed up with Injury Reports instead of Race Reports for the next 2 months. This time, no more mention shall be made of the Steamtown marathon, no marathon tickers shall be placed on my blog, and no outward signs of marathon training shall follow...for the next few weeks atleast. The mantra is One day at a time.