Shamrock Half Race Report: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly . . .

The plus side of having a public blog and stating your goals out loud for anyone to read is that it will drive you to work harder during the race knowing other people know how fast your expect to go.  The negative side is if you don’t meet said goals you have to eventually admit that in the same public forum.

So, 3:00 pr for the day – huray.

1:04 off goal – boo.

Here’s the rundown:

At mile 5 I was on track to do a 1:47, at mile 8 I was on track to do a 1:48, at mile 10 I was on track to do a 1:49.  By mile 13 I did a 1:51.  Hmmmm.  Why did this happen?

What I did well:

-AM race nutrition was perfect, 2 muffins and 1.5 scoops of EFS Fruit punch on the way to the start line

-Shoes were great!  I was the only person I saw with cool green Saucony shoes!

-My arm warmers were fantastic and very cheap : )

-I paced very well for the first 8 miles and felt good. I hurt a little but wasn’t in the pain cave.

-I mentally handled the pain well – I ran to the pain and never backed off.  Mile 9 I entered the pain cave.  I slowed down because my legs cramped and they physically wouldn’t go any faster – but I didn’t mentally back off and it sure hurt a lot 🙂

What I DIDN”T do well:

-Pack!!  Hello – not good to forget your main race nutrition.  Especially not good to forget your race day nutrition when 1.  You don’t have a back up plan and 2.  You can’t find said nutrition anywhere near the race.

-Flexibility.  When I forgot my nutrition I pretty much just left that go, no other nutrition, no water – nothing.  I just wanted to run and meet my goal.  I’ve got to take the blinders off next time and re-think the plan.  By mile 10 I was out of juice and needed energy.

-Water, water, water.  I drank one sip of one cup of water for the entire race.  I was thirsty by mile 2, why didn’t I drink?  No idea.  But my quad cramps at mile 10 made me pay for that decision.

What limited me in reaching my goal:

– Lack of nutrition

– Lack of water

All in all a great day.  Beautiful weather, great friends, a fantastically run race – just a few silly mistakes to help me learn for next time!