Race Report and the Weekly Miles

So I ran the Lyndon Laseman Memorial Run in Henrietta this morning with the goal of breaking an hour. But I didn't meet my goal. It was hot and hilly, two things I hadn't planned on. I made the first mile in less than 9 minutes, probably a little fast. I did ok through mile two. Mile 3 was hard, but not as bad as it's been through some of my training runs. But mile 4? That's where things fell apart. I started having chills and feeling some cramping in my calves. I grabbed some sports beans to try to balance out the ol' electrolytes, but it was too late. I'm going to have to start experimenting with taking Gatorade on my runs. I had to walk quite a bit of 4 and a little of 5. I let some kids douse me with water at the last pit stop, which felt good, but again, it was too late. I crossed the line in 1:06:51. I was fourth in my age bracket. About a minute faster would have gotten me some bling.

I've still got to plug in my Garmin to see the elevation. I really was not expected that. I did set my pace alerts to beep if I fell below a 10:00 mile. I have to say, when I was walking up some of the hills and that thing beeped, I was ready to fling that thing as far as I could throw it.

It was definitely a mental thing. I just wasn't in it this morning like I should have been and I let myself beat myself in my head. Physically, although the chills and the cramping were there, I could have done it. But once I took a small walk break, I told myself I couldn't reach my goal and there the race went. Maybe I need a sports doc...one for the mental aspects, not the physical.

I could blame it on several things, but instead of making excuses, I'll turn it into lessons learned:
1. Use the water stops on hot runs to pour water over your head.
2. Train for hills.
3. Replace electrolytes sooner rather than later.
4. Try out Gatorade or some other drink.
5. Eat more calories the night before.

I had about a cup of pasta, some fruit, a little potato salad and a breadstick for dinner. I went to bed feeling hungry, but I was battling a 3-year-old and didn't feel like getting up again to have something to eat. I should have though. Even a glass of milk would have been good.

And on top of those things, I think I might have a sinus infection. I can feel fluid shifting in my inner ear. It was a weird sensation to feel like I needed to pop my ears while I was running.

The miles:
Weekly: 13.2 miles
YTD: 313.9 miles