Notes
1:56:00, and yet I still feel like this race kicked my ass. Again.
Pretty much the same thing as last year just for different reasons- my calves tightened up like rocks this year at mile 10-11, and I had trouble maintaining pace, so did 5 or 6 short walks (30 seconds or less), and made alot of 5 minute deals. The hills on this race are unrelenting and honestly the last 2 or 3 miles seem all uphill But still managed a 9:08 pace for the last half of the race even with the walking. In addition, the water station spacing is still perplexing - never consistent. Sometimes at the mile sometimes a mile and a half. Sometimes 2. I realize why it happens, but yeesh. The weather was better than last year (no sun), but humid.
I lucked out at the end, I had slowed down to a walk at mile 12, when a gentleman came up behind me and said-"I've been with you the whole way- I'm not gonna leave you behind. Lets finish together" And so we ran the last mile in. It worked perfectly. Great guy, and I need to pay that forward at some point
But I whine- its still an 18 minute improvement over last year. And nearly a personal best. I wonder if I had been able to maintain...
What worked:
- pre-meal breakfast: 1 bagel, peanut butter. Half a banana. coffee. Did not focus much on hydration because I hydrated well the night before.
-gel strategy - two gels halfway through. worked fine.
-my training was inconsistent but sound.
What didn't:
-As always, felt prepared for the hills, but the back end just killed me. IF I ran this race again, I'd look to run 14-15 mile long runs, and incorporate much more serious hill work.
-wondering if I need to get some gatorade in BEFORE the race, as my calves were just a mess.
Still weird: That's an amazing time for me. My half marathons now appear consistently under 2:00:00.