Notes
Every race, indeed every run, is a learning experience, and this was no exception. Lessons learned in a bit, but this was a blast, a six hour run on a rolling, paved bike trail through Quiet Waters State Park in Annapolis, MD. Despite the heat, which ranged from 84 at the 0730 start to 90 at the end, the shaded course helped a lot, along with the fantastic volunteers who filled water bottles with ice water, sprayed us with a hose on each lap, and weighed us at the start and two and four hour marks. Generally took real good care of everyone on a day when a lot could go wrong, but seems like there were no issues.
Those learned lessons: It never hurts to leave really early for a race. I thought I gave myself enough time, but an accident on Rt. 50 at I-97 shut down the highway and traffic ground to a halt an hour before start time. I didn't find out how bad it was and I really hope everyone is ok. Made it to the race five minutes late and didn't get going until about 15 minutes after the clock started. No worries, just get going. Starting late did make a difference on my distance and time, but that's ok.
I kept my pace in the mid 10s which felt fine through the half marathon point. After two hours, I was down about 5 pounds, but gained back 3 after four hours. But I started to feel yukky after that, mostly stomach issues. After two hours, I was down about 5 pounds, but gained back 3 after four hours, so I was hydrating ok (water with occas gatorade and coke), and keeping the salt coming in. I was taking a gel every four mile lap, plus grabbing a cookie, orange slices, and watermelon at the main aid station. Everything was working fine except the watermelon! The 17th mile, I was thinking, I need to stop eating and drinking until this settles down. Plus walk a bit. Just then I lapped a nice lady who was walking so we walked a half mile and had a great conversation about ultras and a lot of other stuff. And you know what? My tummy felt better! Lesson learned: Doesn't hurt to back off on the fuel, walk, and chat a bit.
I got back down in the 11-12 min range and did a roughly 8/2 run/walk for the remainder, and managed to get just over 28 miles.
One nice thing about a timed race I found is that everyone finishes about the same time, so we all congregated at a pavilion for a cookout and the awards. The top mileage was over 41, can you believe it?!
I'm happy, this was the longest I've run on pavement, something I was a bit worried about, but my legs and feet seemed to have held up fine. We'll see tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend, and staying cool!
Hazy, hot, and humid, 90s. #115