Larry Noel 15k Race Recap

We're going to play a game called The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for today's post because I think the race fits nicely into those buckets, plus my writing probably needs some organization help.  Here we go!

The Good: The weekend was off to a great start, which is no surprise because it is not only a weekend, but a three day weekend.  On Saturday I was feeling super productive.  I picked up my hold at the library, went to pick up some stuff at the vet, and squeezed in a run all before 12:30.  My run wasn't fabulous, but I figured it was ok because my 15k was the next day.  I vowed to take it nice and slow and not push too hard.  After my run, my nice friend and I went to The Lost Rhino Brewery.  The beers weren't my favorite, but the tour guide obviously loved his job and I had a lot of fun.  We even got to get our own beer from these huge barrels.  

Cheers!

Yesterday was race day! Er...evening.  My cousin and her husband and my fast friend came to run with me!  I kind of liked the late start because I was wide awake and had plenty of time to eat throughout the day without worrying about cramping up.  It was the 53rd race and was well organized.  There weren't many people there so parking was fine and it wasn't overly crowded at all.  Packet pick up was nice and smooth and I really like our race shirt.  The Labor Day fair was going on nearby so we were excited about getting to check it out afterwards.

Cousins!

Once we got running I loved the scenery.  It's nice to know that there are nice country roads not far out from the big city.  We got to run by cows!  The first 5k felt pretty good.  There were rolling hills, so even though the uphills were a challenge, the down hills felt really good.  There wasn't really any crowd support which made it kind of tough, but the people at the aid stations were incredibly nice and had lots of water and gatorade ready for us.  I think I would have really loved this race had it been a little later in the year.  That leads us to....

The Bad: Holy crap.  It was so humid out.  I was dripping with sweat after the first K.  It was terrible.  I realized early on that my 3 Clif Shot Bloks I had brought along (woo running belt!) were not going to do the trick.  My shorts literally felt like they were going to fall off because they were getting so drenched.  It was just not a fun feeling.  The race was in a T shape (there was one aid station that you passed by 3 times.  It made it a lot easy to manage with only a few volunteers) and some of the stretches seemed really long.  I took my first blok right after the 5k mark.  By about mile 4.5 I was already starting to feel tired from the hills and humidity.  I imagine hell probably resembles parts of this race.  Just kidding :-)  

The course was marked out in Ks.  This wasn't my favorite and my fast friend and I realized that our math was not up to par.  I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how far a mile is and the Ks threw me off a little.  When we got to about 12k I popped my last two bloks.  By that point my stomach was HATING me.  And here we go to...

The Ugly: Even though I have no medical background, repeat experiences have led me to link my stomach issues to my extreme loss of sweat.  After my first experience with my shot bloks, I should have learned not to mess with the ratio and just used an entire pack for my longer runs.  While I didn't realize how incredibly humid it was going to be at first, I should have planned better and packed more than 3 seeing that I know how my body can be.  I was miserable.  I had to walk several times after the 10k mark because my stomach was threatening major problems.  Finally, when we got to the 14k mark I figured I may as well run hard because the faster I got to the end, the faster I could get to a bathroom.  We had a strong finish which I was really happy about, but we definitely powered walked to the bathroom afterwards.  My friends are really nice and were understanding about my needing some alone time afterwards.  After my stomach settled a little we rushed home so I could continue my good times in the privacy of my own home.  Great, right?  The joys of running.

I will cuddle on the couch with you, Mom!

So, there were no New Year's resolutions achieved.  If anyone is aware of any 15ks coming up before 2012 is over I would appreciate some ideas!  I realize that I really need to start working hard if I want to be ready for my two upcoming races.  No slacking off anymore.  I need to get out there in the heat and start making this work or I am going to continue to have miserable race experiences.  

Luckily, there is still one day left of the weekend, so I am planning on doing some fun things to end it right.  I hope everyone has a happy Labor Day!