DNF in Richmond; my first ever at any distance. No injury, just misery. After a night of thunderstorms, the rain stopped just in time for the race. I understand it was about 95% humidity and 67 at the start, heading well into the 70s. Many of you know I don’t do well in H&H in general and, this time of year especially, I’m no longer acclimated to it. As a consequence, I imploded…fast. Literally, sweat was dripping in my glasses standing there waiting to start! Not my kind of day, to say the least. I abandoned any hope of my target 3:35 and instead did the first half around a 3:40 pace. But I felt miserable from the very beginning. I have never felt so poorly so early in a race. I was overheating (the sun actually came out making it much worse), my HR was racing, and I felt queasy. Immediately after the halfway point, I slowed down dramatically and even took walk breaks to see if I could recover to a decent pace, to no avail; my day of running was done. I had wanted a race to test my conditioning; my heart wasn’t into just slogging through a miserable 12 mile jog for a poor finish time. As I was contemplating what to do, I started feeling a little dizzy and light-headed and that settled any doubts; I was done. I decided to jog/walk it in to mile 16, a spot where I could leave the course and shortcut directly to the finish. As I write this a few hours later, I’m still a little queasy but okay. A cold front moves through tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be 25 degrees cooler! Should be breezy but IRC. Ah, the fickle hand of fate. Lessons: I can’t run well in H&H. I already knew that but hoped maybe better conditioning would get me through this time. Nope. I don’t regret having tried, though. If I had started out much slower and finished, I’d be wondering if I could have gone faster from the start. After two out of three years at Richmond with very warm and humid weather, I think it’s time to head north to a cooler and less humid race next year. But the day did have a very bright spot! My DW ran her first-ever half today and did quite well, given the conditions. That’s why I cut over to the finish; to greet her just after her race. I’ve been “coaching” her all year as she’s been building up mileage. I’m very proud of her.

Oh Tramps! Bummer! But what could you do? I was recently having a discussion with someone else (Tim, actually) about what a crapshoot training for a marathon can be - so many things can go wrong on race day that are completely out of your control. You are in great condition, and I know you have such a great race in you, but today you were sabotaged by the weather. There will come another day, another race, but I agree that you should try to aim for a cooler climate race. I suspect you would do much better in Too Cold conditions than Too Warm. Congratulations to your DW, btw - super job for finishing her first HM!

Tramps I was so saddened to see the DNF lead off your report, but as I read it, I started thinking just like Spareribs (ok, that's scary...). You are in awesome condition right now, your training has been superb! How about finding a race that you can get into in the next couple of weeks or so... a smaller one with a late entry capability? You've got that BQ in you and you're primed to run it now. I think you should regroup and try again, take advantage of that fitness you've worked so hard for. And yes, big congrats to your DW on her half marathon today!

Aw, Tramps. I'm sorry the weather screwed up your race. There are some things we just can't control, and I think you were wise to drop out when you did. You'll have a quick recovery and can put the next plan into action that much faster. Big congratulations to Mrs. Tramps!! It's nice that you were able to be there at the end of her race.

Oh Tramps - the weather for this race is deserving of the the fickle hand of fate award! Glad to hear that you did right by yourself and that you can see the silver lining in DW's race performance.

Congrats to your DW Tramps! Sorry it wasn't your day. You did the right thing and I hope you can find another race to take advantage of the conditioning. Barb

Oh Tramps - I was so sorry to read the DNF in your opening. You did the right thing by pulling out of it at Tim's Magical 16 mile point. I am no good in H&H conditions either and can't imagine even making it that far. Congratulations to DW though - that is great! Get some rest and come North for your next adventure!!

DNF in Richmond; my first ever at any distance. No injury, just misery. Literally, sweat was dripping in my glasses standing there waiting to start! Not my kind of day, to say the least.

Tramps, I'm so sorry about your DNF...but sweat dripping on your glasses at the Start is not a good sign especially when you have a 26.2 mile race ahead of you. You were smart to bail out. If you're interested, Charlotte has a marathon in about 4 weeks, the weather here in December is usually either ideall or downright cold. Just a thought! Congrats on your DW's half!