Five Miles and Two Doughnuts

Medal for half marathon

Five miles and two doughnuts were part of my training this weekend for two upcoming races.  My long run Saturday was five miles as part of my taper for this Sunday's Iron Girl Half Marathon in Clearwater, FL. I have been following Runner's World Smart Coach program for this race and it is very demanding.  Much more serious than the Marathoning for Mortals I used for my marathon.  Smart Coach wanted me to run thirteen miles for the two long runs prior to the event.  That seemed extreme to me so I tweaked it and decided to run eight and five miles the weeks before. This is all an experiment for me, so we will see how this translates to race day performance. I will be running this race with child #1, Cate.  This will be our last race together before she moves to Chicago in May. I will miss my fitness buddy.

The two doughnuts were eaten as part of my training for the Charleston Krispy Kreme Donut Run on April 16, in Charleston, SC. Being a fan of doughnuts and running, this is a great combo race. Basically it's a 5K with a dozen doughnuts thrown into the middle. You run half of the race, eat twelve donuts and then finish the race.  


I have read about this race in North Carolina, home of Krispy Kreme and always thought it sounded fun.  Caroline, child #2, lives in Charleston and we will be doing this one together.  As much as I like doughnuts, I was a little worried about having to eat twelve doughnuts at one time AND having to run 1.5 miles after eating them.  


Fortunately, this race offers runners a choice: you can either compete as a challenger meaning you HAVE to eat all 12 doughnuts and keep them down before you can start your run to the finish, or you can enter in the casual division, where you can eat as many or as few doughnuts as you want.
Of course, if you go casual, you can't claim victory for this race.


Not really being a contender for winning, and my lack of interest in throwing up after stuffing down a dozen doughnuts, I am perhaps wimping out, but I have entered in the casual division.  I like that I have a choice, we'll see what happens race day.  I may get caught up in the doughnut frenzy!! 


Would you choose to run as a challenger or a contender?  Do you spell this circle of dough fried in fat as donut or doughnut?  Just curious...I go back and forth between the two.