Sunday in Hampton, NH started off cloudy, moderately cool (mid-30s), and quite windy. The winds were coming from the west, and seemed to pick up quite a bit of speed as they roared across the salt marsh on that side of Hampton Beach. It was tough to know how to dress for the race because if felt so much colder in the wind. I went with tights, long-sleeve tech shirt, windbreaker, gloves, hat.

The walkers started at 10:00, an hour before the runners. Dot Zullo, as she always does, sprinted out to a good lead at the gun. I was second and, without looking, I knew that Dot's husband Mark would not be far behind me. My first 6 miles were good, despite some wind gusts that seemed to almost bring me to a stop. My first mile was 10:33, and the next 5 averaged just over 11 minutes each.

Miles 7-9 were moderately hilly. We were now going with the wind and the sun had come out, so I was warming up rapidly - too much so. The hill at mile 9 was the last climb on the course, and it took its toll on me.

I had popped a ShotBlok in my mouth at the start of the race, and was just letting it dissolve under my tongue. I had taken one that was caffeinated on my last long workout, and it was fine during the workout, but left me seriously over-buzzed for the rest of that day. So, for the race, I backed it off and took half of a caffeinated Blok, and half of one that wasn't caffeinated. Whether it was the intensity of the race, or the heat, or something else, I was getting pretty nauseous by mile 10. I had to stop. I dug into a snowbank for some clean snow to eat and wipe on my face to calm and cool me down. Mark passed me, asking if I was OK as he went by. I was just a mile from home, and considered for a moment packing it in. But I decided that quitting just wouldn't do.

Mark wasn't all that far ahead, and I figured I had 3 miles to catch up to him. But my brief stop was long enough to make me start to cramp up when I got going again. It was instantly clear that I wasn't going to catch Mark. Miles 10 and 11 ( and we were back into a headwind now) were the slowest miles I had ever raced, but I kept going forward. At mile 11, the lead runner finally caught up and passed me. At mile 12, I decided to at least have a decent finish, so I sucked it in and racewalked that last mile. How I managed to finish 3rd is beyond me to figure. My time was 2:32, which was at least 7 minutes slower than what it should have been.

I got some soup after the race, and that helped me to feel better. Dot, Mark and I were standing together, and we noticed a lot more people who were limping and gimping than in previous years, and we assumed it was because that wind had taken it's toll on most people.

Before I left, I took one more spin around the room, looking for someone I was hoping to meet. I found her, or rather she spotted me - Deez4boyz! I knew Denise was going to do the race, and we had exchanged emails to try to meet up. What a treat to meet her and to have a chat for a few minutes before I had to be on my way. What a charming, sweet woman!

So I did some stupid things (ShotBlok, overdressing, maybe going out too fast into the wind), and they came back to bite me before the end of the race. It's a good thing it was just a race, and not some life-or-death situation!

My next race is an indoor 3K, so no need to worry about the weather, and no ShotBloks! All I'll have to worry about is that I've never raced a 3K before, all the faster racewalkers, and those annoying judges! 

Thanks,

Jay

Jay, that's some speedy walking.  Congrats on the 3rd place finish.  I'm sorry to hear you had difficulties but you sure toughed it out.  It's neat you got to meet deez.

TomS