Sunday's race was not great, it wasn't horrible, but simply put, it did not meet my expectations. Note to self:
DO NOT GET THE STOMACH FLU THE WEEK BEFORE A RACE!
Sunday I was up at 5:30. I felt ok, but just not my normal. I had a couple of pieces of toast with a little PB and a cup of decaf herbal tea. Michael and I drove about 30 minutes to the race. I drank half a monster drink on the way. I warmed up with a 5 min jog, took a shot block and was ready to go. I could tell I felt funny during my warm up jog. I just felt tired. My legs felt great, but the rest of me did not. My first mile was pretty good and right where I wanted to be, 8:08 pace. From their I started running around 8min pace miles and around mile 4 started to get into my sub 8min pace. I still felt pretty well. I usually feel really adjusted and in my groove by mile 5. BUT by mile 6 I was not feeling like I was in my groove and I was started to slow a bit. I drank all the water I had with me and by mile 9 I was running 8:30 min miles. Everything and everyone was getting annoying. I felt like I was in one of those movies where everything goes in slow motion, there is no sound, and everyones faces are screaming at you, but you just can't hear anything, because you are trying to process everything, and you can't process anything, and you just want to get away, but you can't!!!! (Sorry for the longest run-on sentence of all time). GAAAA... Those wonderful racing fans were making me feel horribly claustrophobic. By mile 11 I started feeling dizzy and concerned that if I didn't find another water station soon, I would pass out. Luckily there was one around the corner and I gulped down a cup of water. I felt better within minutes. Dang it, I was dehydrating!! The last mile there is a pretty big hill. I didn't stop on this hill, but was slow. Somehow I managed somewhat of a kick the last .3 miles and my pace was somewhere in the 7:30s when I crossed the finish line.
Time: 1:46:53 8:09 pace.
When I crossed the finish line all I could think of was WATER! I downed a bottled water down in 45 seconds, I think!!! I am not totally disappointed with my time, considering how I was feeling. It is still a huge PR for me considering my last half was at 2 hours. Truth is, I just could not stomach large amounts of fluid the days after my stomach flu. It made me nauseous. So, I just wasn't properly hydrated. I don't normally have such high water needs (unless it's hot out), so I wasn't even thinking I would need more than normal. Lesson LEARNED.
SO, I went home and signed up for another 1/2 in the beginning of June. This one is really close to my house, only $40, and lots of family festivities afterwards. We'll see if I can enjoy this upcoming race a little bit more!
What do you do when you have a bad race?
