It was hot and humid. I was very uncomfortable the whole time. I started the race around 10:30 and am not really used to running a race at that time. I probably should have had more to eat as I felt weak and shaky during my run. I over compensated by drinking more water and gatorade than I probably needed. I don't normally drink gatorade and definitely don't use gatorade during my training runs. Rookie mistake doing something you aren't used to doing.
I was so nervous to be dehydrated that I just kept drinking mass amounts of water which I think probably diluted the sodium in my body or whatever. This just was not my day to race. I am not used to the heat and humidity that we had today blah blah blah. lots of excuses. Sorry. I am happy with my time because given the day, the time, the temp everything this was the best that I could have done. That's all that I can do, and that's all that matters.
Not every race will be better than your last race, which is why there are things called PR's. I have another race July 10th that I have to get ready for so no use in dwelling on past races. I know that I need to hydrate more for this next race as it is in the middle of the summer and the weather could really be anywhere on the temperature scale. It will be earlier in the day which will be nice and something I am more used to. Last night I was playing the what if game. What if I didn't have two gu's while waiting for my partner to finish her first 1/2 so I could start my race (I thought her time would be closer to 2hrs so I took a gu at 1:45 into the race in preparation, when I didn't see her by 2:15 I had another gu. BAD CALL! 2 gu's on an empty stomach is NOT GOOD!) What if I put sun block on instead of taking it out of my bag before leaving for the race thinking, its raining right now. It wont be sunny today! What if I drank more while waiting for my partner, or drank more in the morning instead of worrying about peeing. What if, what if, what if. I know nothing will change the fact that it is what it is. I just need to learn from my mistakes and not make them again.
Things I have learned:
1. Don't over gu!
2. Drink water, not gatorade as I am not used to gatorade!
3. When you are hot and sweaty don't pour water over your head as the salty sweat will run in your eyes.
4. Don't run with one eye closed due to the salty sweat in your eyes as this will give you a headache and mess with your depth perception
5. Walking through water breaks is a must! I did this yesterday and it was a great motivator to keep running until you get to the water break because you know you will walk through it. Stopping to walk twice in a mile was not something I was aiming to do.
6. When you are so disoriented, nauseous, dizzy and want to DNF start counting your foot falls. I counted up to 100 on every step my right leg took. I bargained with myself the whole time. "just get to 100 and then you can stop." once I got to 100 I would say, "that wasn't so bad, just do it again. If you make it to 100 again you can stop." I did this for at least 5 miles! I felt like it even helped me pick up the pace a little since I was going so slow counting and trying to get to a certain number and knowing the only way to get there faster was to move faster helped!
7. Know that not every race will be better time wise than your last. I did sub 2hrs my last 1/2 8 weeks ago after not running for 4 weeks due to a knee injury. I thought I would rock this one. Well, I didn't. I went 10 minutes slower on this one and felt like I was better prepared for this one. Just goes to show you, you can't count on things!
8. I also have learned that this was the push I needed to really dedicate myself to train for the full marathon next year. I personally hated waiting around for 2 hours. It made me more anxious and nervous the more and more people that were leaving the corral. I hated starting so late and didn't like the whole experience. Finishing the race was nice, but not enough to make me want to do the 2nd half again. I have done the first half before and that isn't fun either. You don't really have a "finish" its more of a relay handoff and so not much glory after completing a 1/2 marathon. I definitely want to do the full next year and this was just what I needed to cement that for me.
9. You can't change who you are. I am competitive. I want to win and try my hardest no matter what. When there are others around you that aren't in that same mindset, it will only piss me off. Don't apologize for being who you are.
10. Even if you aren't proud of yourself. Rock your medal and your t-shirt. You will start to feel better after a little while.
11. STRETCH and FOAM ROLL. I love my foam roller oh so much.
12. Sign up for another ASAP! I am running my July 10th 1/2 with R4J and am SOOOO excited to do another race with her. I really enjoy our runs together and hope we can continue our at least once weekly runs. It is just so nice to talk the miles away and get in a good workout!
I also want to congratulate R4J since she beat her 1/2 time by 11 minutes! Great job! Despite the weather she did an amazing job!!!!!
Congrats to my partner Paula as well. This was her 2nd 1/2 and her 2nd race ever. She didn't PR but she did run through an injury and had a lot of fun- even had a photo shoot pre finish line. (yes, slightly mad, but I will get over it!)
10:30 is so late to start a half marathon! Congrats on finishing your race even if you weren't feeling your best!
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It was a full and half marathon. So my partner started the first half and when she got done I got to do the 2nd half. It took her 2.5 hrs so that's why it was so late for me to start :( and why it was so much hotter too! haha.
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