The EGG!!

Well, it was bound to happen one day!! I was just having too much luck dodging bullets lately!! My half marathon turned into a disaster!! The whole week I was feeling kinda sluggish... I dont know why, even my easy runs were hard. Once again, my fueling was a major issue. These "away" runs always get me... I forget about breakfast when I pack my stuff the day before. So i woke up the day of the marathon in ample time. Decided to go downstairs to the giftshop to grab some niblets or whatnot... why was it closed?? Luckily I had a disgusting tasting Oatmeal bar stashed. Ate that around 7am (race at 8am). I definitely didnt want to have a midrace hunger spell like my last half. Started on a new type of energy drink... I need to just stick to my Ripit!! Was still kinda hungry, so I bought a blueberry muffin at a stand in the lobby of the hotel. Killed it in 2 minutes flat!!! We hopped on the bus to take us to the start in some city called Perrysburgh, OH. All seemed well to the start. I made sure I was at the front, to avoid the 1/4 mile walkers.

I set my Garmin on a different setting. I did a thing called Virtual Partner and set it for 1:38:00 for the half, which would be a PR. Only thing about that is it doesnt tell you how fast you are going, only if you are ahead of your pacer on the watch. My warmup was "ok". The start was very uneventful... I felt good, but REALLY sluggish. I intentionally left my headphones so I could concentrate on my breathing and form. Was a GREAT idea... I was doing well...

Mile 1 - 6:43 (whoa tiger, slow down!!!)
Mile 2 - 7:18 (thats a lil better, but u are still ahead of the pacer)
Mile 3 - 7:20 (Im not tired, but just am not feeling this race... something aint right)
Mile 4 - 7:19 (no change, but I'm WAY ahead of my pacer on Garmin)
Mile 5 - 7:34 (more like it... perfect split)
Mile 6 - 7:39 (more of the same, but now something REALLY aint right)

At this point, I'm around 43:50 near the 10k, this is a 10k PR and I aint even racing a 10k race. But all of a sudden, the stomach had a word with me!!! Something in there said "Let me out!!!!" Lo and behold, I had to run off the course and got sick!!! Stomach cramped, and oops, there goes the muffin too!!! It didnt help that it was HOT too... it was 80 degrees and all sun this day. Not to mention that we had snow drizzle earlier this week... no time for acclimation... what a way to get broken into summer!! After this brief stint on the sidelines, I began my journey again, but I never stopped my Garmin.

Mile 7 - 9:37

Ok, what is really going on?? This time its bad. Back to the sidelines again. This time for real!!! It was over, I was really feeling sick. Stopped and some gracious person in the crowd gave me a bottled water, so I gulped, regurged, gulped, regurged... so now its just time for me to walk, BUT WAIT... I'm 6 miles from the finish in the heat!!!

Mile 8 -18:04

No way... the longer I'm out here, the longer the ordeal is going to last. So I got a second wind, and I think most of my sickness was gone now. So I decide to get back into this thing!!

Mile 9 - 7:39 (why am I killing myself, there is no PR in site... just bring it in)
Mile 10 - 8:46 (chatting with other runners)
Mile 11 - 8:21 (uh, oh!! one more wretching episode... just walked thru the gatorade stop)
Mile 12 - 9:35 (did more walking and chatting... alot of ppl walking, it was getting hot)

My thought was to just walk it in, but some guy "egg'd" me on to finish this last mile... he said "Haven't you run a mile before? Get back in here!!" So we ran side by side until the finish. Just about mile 12.75 there was a lady passed out in the street likely from dehydration and the paramedics were all over her. I was just glad to see the end in site.

Mile 13 - 8:30 (Oh the finish could not come any sooner)
Final time - 1:56:26

I dropped a MAJOR egg this time. Im soooo upset because this was my PR run in the making... I hoped to drop like 2-3 minutes and was on pace for about a 1:36:00. I guess I'm a fool when it comes to fueling for these long races, and the heat didnt help. I'm such a LOSER!! Today I am unusually sore, like I ran my first marathon sore!! I am not doing ANY running this week, I'm giving my body some rest. This 4 miler is just a training run next saturday. I need everything to be perfect for this 25k, and its a tough course from what I hear. I'm going to be ready... and I rest on...