DRC Half Race Recap

Whoot! Another half marathon down--the full is in three weeks. Three weeks ::has panic attack::.

OK, now that I have cleared that up....

I'll have pictures tomorrow, hopefully, but, I wanted to get this all out before I forget, because, well, let's be honest, it's me. 90% of the time, I can't remember my own phone number...I take after my mother in that regard. It's as if I have blonde roots or somethin', I tell ya.

Anyways!

Went to bed rather late for pre-race on Saturday, but, the extra hour of sleep sure did help--I wasn't really tired at all that morning (bonus!). The hubs and I managed to get out of the house quickly and got to the race site plenty early. It was frrrrrrrrrreeeezzzziinnngggg. And of course, this all takes place by the lake, so, it's all very shady, so, standing in the sun to warm up was not an option.

I felt good, and ready to kick some half marathon booty. I lined up with a certain pace group and was ready to rock it. Now, let me just explain to you how this pace group worked, or, in this case, did not work. Given, I have never been a pacer, and I would probably suck at it, so, I don't have a lot of room to talk, but, I would except the pace leaders to you know, be able to keep their pace under control. Well, let's just say, that didn't happen. I always try to start slowly as to not burn out--that's how I run the best, and how I finish the strongest--rather common sense, but, it's like I have to burn it into my teeny little brain or I will go all out and then suck it the rest of the race.

Yeah so. So. So! This pace leader started out waaaaay too fast and for the first three miles or so, we were running about 1:30 faster than the pace--um, yeah, I'm slow, let's get that clear--and you're asking me to run over a minute faster than the actual pace, and you want me to hang? Not going to happen. I can hang at the correct pace for 14+ miles--I know because I've done it on training runs before I figured that with the race adreniline, I could totally rock this pace for 13.1.

Funny. We lost them around mile 4 ish (I was trying to pace a friend of mine--it was his first half. I think it helped for him to run with me, although I'm sure he could have run faster, he'd never gone further than 10 miles and I didn't want him to burn out). This was slightly disheartening because I knew I would have been able to maintain the correct pace for the whole thing, but, since my leggies were already wondering what the crap was going on, I knew it would be rough go the rest of the way. I'm not trying to sound like I blame my lame performance on the pace leader, I totally don't--I should have tried to tone it down myself and been more aware of the fact that it was too fast and backed off. But, I'm stubborn and honestly, wanted to see how long I could do it. I never said I was the smartest person out there. I'm stubborn. This is not good in racing.

After I made peace with the fact that I was not going to finish with that group, I managed to keep us on a pretty consistent pace the rest of the way--however, because of the additional speed in the beginning, my stomach started acting up around mile 5, and I had to fuel then--which I did not enjoy, but, whatever, I needed it. The next few miles were hard and hilly, and I hate to admit, but, there were a few walk breaks (mainly because holy moly, I thought I was going to hurl). Luckily, no real IT pain!

We cheered once we reached the halfway point, and it was pretty much literally downhill from that point. We knew the course perfectly from this point and it was just about finishing.

I had gone through all my Shot Blocks by mile 11 and was starting to feel lethargic. I told myself 2 more miles--this is easy!

I wish I could say it was, but, it really wasn't. I started to get light headed and queasy, and my legs would just not turn over, no matter how hard I tried.

Then, around mile 12, it hit me. Heat exhaustion. Little rant: only in Texas, could it be freaking 40 degrees at the start of the race, and 75 degrees at the end. Seriously.

I've only gotten heat exhaustion one other time, and that was during a 4th of July Race in 90 degree Texas summer with hardly any water along the course.

I took water at all the stations, plus my fuel belt this time--I did not see this coming. I was not overly dressed either--capris and a dri fit top. I was frrreeezing for the first half of the race.

Anyways, I was getting the cold pricklys, and flushing insanely my vision started to get blurry. Worst.Feeling.Ever. I told my friend who I was running with and we stopped for a second so I could suck every little ounce of water out of my bottle and then we took off. We were going to finish strong.

And we did. The damn finish chute seemed to go on for days, but, we saw our spouses cheering us on and we crossed the finish line proudly.

And then I downed the most fabulous cold bottle of water ever. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings and I kind of wandered around like a lost duck for a few minutes. Heat exhaustion can kiss my bum. For real. I'm still honestly in shock that I managed to overheat myself on November 1st.

I didn't get the big PR I had hoped for, but, I shaved a few minutes off my time, and considering this course was substantially hillier than my previous half marathon course, I consider it a victory.

The leggies weren't hurting, and I was proud of myself.

Of course, now, my IT band is killing me and I'm literally gimping around like I have a peg leg (sure). Yes, I stretched, yes, yes, I did the foam roller--everything. I think my IT band just has it out for me. Bastard. Any advice??? I'm supposed to do 22 miles this Saturday--last looooong run before taper time. Yikes!!

Also, quick rant: so, the pace leader who I started with, yeah, my husband said he finished on pace, but, with none of his group with him--they were all trailing in like me. Which leads me to believe he slowed down towards the middle or the end to get back on pace. Not cool dude, not cool. I shouldn't rag on him, being a pace leader is tough, but, it really did bug me that he started out so fast, it was clear that I wasn't the only person who got burned out by him.

But, I finished. And, I PRed.

It was a great day.

(sorry, that was really long)