I'm reposting this here per the advice of the regulars. Sorry for any repeat reads, and thanks for the tip to do a separate thread. Also, thanks to the RA folks for the warm welcome to the RWOL refugees!

I ran my yearly goal 1/2 yesterday.  It went "ok."  Like not horrible, but not great.  I feel fine today, not sore at all, nothing hurts, so now I think maybe I didn't try hard enough.  I'm planning something later today, have no idea what, but 4-5 probably.  Next up is a 5K in 6 1/2 weeks.  Turkey Trot.  We'll see how that goes, I'm less injured than last year (although also slower), so it could be a good race or not.

I don't know how you all do RR here, so I'll just plug it in here.

I ran the Long Beach 1/2.  This is my 6th time running it, and my 5th consecutive year.  I know the course pretty well, which is nice.  It's a beautiful location and mostly flat.  It's a pretty big race, the half had a little less than 8,000 finishers, but 13,000 signed up.  There's also a full, 3,000 signed up for that.

My training got sidelined the first 5ish weeks.  I aggravated my Achilles tendons early on (both of them ), so tried to rehab them and get into the cycle by just jumping in later.  That had mixed results.  I got some help from OFR, and we overhauled the schedule to get rid of some workouts that just end in injury and add in some more VO2 max stuff and rework the threshold training.  All in all, I ended up with about 8 weeks of solid training before the race.  Prior to injury I was averaging about 40 mpw for 3 or so months, mid to high 30s before that, so an endurance base was there, just not speed.  My peak week was 50.

Goals were as follows:

A: 1:45-1:48 range

B: anything under 1:50

C: anything under 2:00

D: finish upright under my own power.  (I always have a backup reachable goal! )

You can skip the rest if you want, I got B to happen.

Weather was 66 degrees, 88% humidity, overcast.  Start time was 7:30 a.m.  I had a Gu w/ 20mg of caffeine at 6:50.  I had another one at 7:20.

My goal pace was around 8:05-8:10.  I didn't catch my first mile split, so had no idea how I was pacing (turns out it was 8:12), but the second mile I saw was 8:11, so doing ok.  Next couple were good, 8:01, 8:06, then mile 5 came in at 8:12... ruh-roh.  Not that it was so far off, but I felt like I was working like a dog, and that's not a good sign at mile 5.  I ate a Gu.

Miles 6-10 are flat and straight along the boardwalk of the beach.  Flat is good, but there was a pretty stiff headwind.  Probably about 7-8 mph, but it was very noticeable.  Things got worse.  8:27 (stopped for a Nunn here), 8:29, 8:30 (stopped for a water), 8:53 (oh shit moment--I realized I had lost focus in a big way), 8:30 (I'd sped up, but stopped to pound two more cups of water).  About this time I was at the, "I may as well throw in the towel, this is horrible, there is nothing good in this world, and I will pretend it didn't happen and glare at anyone and everyone who asks about it, FML," stage.

Mile 11 has an uphill--it's not a lot, but it's 37 feet in a short burst, so it takes it out of of you.  8:41.

But then we get to the end.  Mile 12 and 13, per usual, are the part where I inevitability have the conversation with myself where I convince myself that we need to get into the puke zone because this is almost over, it's mostly downhill, and it's now or never, so sack up ho and do this.  Despite what felt Herculean, the splits were only 8:00 and 8:02.  Not as good as how hard it felt like I was working, but getting me toward realistically achieving the B goal.

The last .1 is always amusing.  Sometimes I realize I kicked it too early and now I'm screwed.  Other times, like yesterday, I see someone who looks like she might be in my age group, and I get that "no guts no glory" mentality and decide if nothing else happens right today, Imma beat that lady.  So final tenth of a mile was at a 6:17 pace.  And I beat that one lady.

Final time was 1:49:03.16.  So B goal achieved, yay!

Thoughts on what I need to do better next time: I really screwed up on my second to final week before the race (the penultimate week if you want to get fancy).  I had worked up to 50 mpw, and then I went on a trip, took an unintended RD, didn't make it up, and ended that week at 41.  I had only planned (and really think you only need) 1 week of taper, but ended up with an unintentional 2.  I think this definitely caused me to peak too early.  My final week was 37 miles--which would have been fine if I had keep up the intensity the week prior.  I don't know how much of this was physical and how much was mental, but either way, I will not make that mistake again.

Obviously an extra 4 weeks of training at the beginning of the cycle would have benefited me as well, injuries are never a good thing.

I ate like absolute crap the week before the race.  And I mean crap.  The three days before the race were Jewish holidays, and I ate stupidly.  I woke up feeling bloated and shitty on race morning, and my legs felt swollen and dead.  That was 100% due to my very poor decision making, and FFS, I need to exercise better self control.

But there is some good too: I feel really good.  And I mean, really good, physically.  My ATs are happy campers, no DOMS at all.  So clearly I ran this at a pace that I have the fitness to support.  And I'M NOT INJURED!!!!!!!!  Last couple years I have been hobbling due to injuries and I'm not dealing with those in the slightest.  (For those who remember, I had the jacked up piriformis and some sort of crazy hamstring thing last year, along with having effed up my L5-S1 discs moving a table... It's so wonderful not to hurt!)

Also, I learned a couple things about how certain types of workouts work or DO NOT work for me.  I always thought it was mileage that wrecked me, but it's not.  It's sprinting.  Of any kind.  I just cannot do it at all, it's a road that leads only to pain, and it's not a necessary skill for someone who races 5K to 1/2.  I'm not a sprinter, and I'm too old for that explosive stuff.  After stopping all hill sprints and strides, everything started feeling better.

And the "I need to figure this out but have no clue what I'm doing wrong": My stomach during the race was fine.  It was even fine for about an hour or so afterward.  But OMG, the next 5 hours were absolute hell.  My guess is Gu is fine for energy, but it just sits there and after you stop working so hard, your stomach is like, "WTF am I supposed to do with this crap, this is making me angry and I shall punish you for consuming it."  Thankfully it's better now, and I've stopped bargaining with the Lord about the situation.

Nice job, congrats on the B goal, and congrats on out-kicking that one lady at the end! Some comments:

- 66 deg w/88% RH sounds very warm for me. Maybe you're used to it in SoCal, but that's gonna hurt you for something as long as a half.

- I don't think your penultimate week was a big deal. One extra RD does not suddenly destroy your fitness. The extra 4 weeks at the beginning would've made a lot more difference. Injuries can really set you back. Obv.

- You mentioned the 2 pre-race Gu, and one at mile 5. Personally, for a half, I only take one at ~mile 7. It sounds like you may be over-gu-ing it (SWIDT?) You did not mention what you did about actual food. I always eat well pre-race (~2 hrs) & post-race (~1.hr).

Great Job LM!  Agree with Dave, the missed 4 weeks is more of a factor than one week toward the end. It was hot, but you got pretty close to the 1:48 we figured. A little cooler, probably could of nailed 1:48. ...I like to eat some pretzels or bagel within 15 min of the finish-as Baboon suggested on the forum, it helps my gut. And you probably didn't get enough water with all those gels. That is the disadvantage of gels when working harder @ 1/2 pace. Sports drink is easier to swallow and you don't have to take extra water with it. It's hard to get 8oz. of water down in a Half in my experience, which is what you need with the gels. It's easier for people running 2+ hours.

Looking forward to what you can do with a full 12 week plan and coming into it in good shape and without down time for injuries-now you know how to avoid them.  

Great job, LM!  With those conditions for a half, a B goal is a great way to finish.  

FWIW, I might have a GU ~20min before a half but nothing during the race (no water either).  I do finish pretty damn thirsty and try to get in quite a bit for the hours afterwards.  I'm also a huge fan of the Starbucks protein can drinks for post race/LR.  20gm of protein, quite a bit of sugar and tasty is a nice way to put away some calories when I have ZERO appetite.  Just something to consider!

Glad you finished without any lingering or new injuries as well.

Thanks peeps! Ok, I did eat bfast at about 5 am, peanut butter and honey on a brown rice cake. Not a ton, but something. Then the Gu. I forgot, I also had a Gu at 9 miles.  You're not kidding, I totally over Gued myself. Also, that was hilarious, I love puns.

As far as after, I drank a coconut water about 3 minutes after I finished, then about 10 minutes after that, a beer (Shocktop specifically). Then I drove home, and was miserable from about 10:45 am until 4ish. I didn't eat for quite a while, finally nibbled on some potato chips at 3:30 or so, and that helped.  My stomach problem was the opposite of nausea, if you get what I mean.  Bad cramps and all that.

I think a lot was the lack of water to go with the Gu. I didn't realize how key that is.  What I really wanted was the caffeine, I need to figure out how to get just that! I don't know that I needed the nutrition so much, I was looking for the buzz.  I need to figure out how to drink and run, I mostly spill, so I gave up and just stopped to drink.  I should learn to suffer and just save the time and skip it.

Bread, I like your idea with the Starbucks. Those are delish, and would be great post race.

And y'all are right, the temp was ok because it was overcast, but that humidity is brutal. I trained in 98% most of the summer, but this was still swampy. The week leading up to the race was in the 30-50% range, so it hit like a ton of wet bricks on Sunday.

Congrats on a nice Half LM! Great to see you here...was thinking about you and your upcoming HM last week.

You did great. Those weeks with the aggravated AT's... uhhh thats horrible. Good call on cutting out the hill sprints. Ive done the same myself after talking to OFR and reading Jack Daniels book. Thats funny about the gels hitting you hours after your race. Ive experienced the same thing myself. Its terrible.

I do take GUs with no water for marathons even, without issue, but if your stomach is not used to it, it might wreck it.

Congratulations on getting your B goal and not hurting today. I have also had issues with Gus causing cramps. I think it's the concentrated sugar, but I'm not sure. If I space out the gel, so that it takes a mile or so to swallow the whole thing, that usually helps.