Diva's Aftermath

Well, I now have a Half-Marathon under my hydration belt. It was a truly incredible experience. We often wonder how are we gonna react when put to the test and while I can't say everything was peaches n' cream, I think I did quite alright. 

There was so much stuff I was feeling and wanted to share after the race but lets face it, my last post was a race report, not the Bible so I had to draw the line somewhere. I tried to concentrate on the actual race and saved the rest of the stuff for later so... now being later, here we go.

The actual Diva race:

This is an awesome series no matter if its not geared towards guys. It is also very well organized and the course is both scenic and challenging. There were however, in my opinion, two things that need attention. Both of them having to do with the finish line area. The first was the lack of railings/supervision around this particular area. As you ran the final half mile, there were a lot of runners who had finished along with their families and friends walking around the area blocking the course markers and the course itself. it was very disorienting and very off-putting to those close to finishing. They could have certainly organized the flow of finishers a lot better. The other issue was the lack of shade/tents. Even the area for the finish photo (and the long line to get there) was out in the sunlight and 95+ degree heat. I'm sure these areas are out in the open in other races and that's fine when it's colder but under the circumstances it was torture.

The Day After:

Yes, it was a bit painful. OK, it was a lot. In fact, after getting in the car after the race and went home, I had to stop for gas. I thought I was not gonna be able to get out of the car! But by the evening I was feeling better and after taking Monday and Tuesday off, I ran 4 miles on Wednesday then another 4 Thursday. That first run after felt so funny. My legs were like numb or something but I found a rhythm after a while and have actually had two very good runs afterwards.

Lesson Learned:

There were many factors for what happened to me during the race -the fact that is was my very first being one of the main reasons- but in hindsight, the lack of mileage did me in more than anything. My schedule became erratic at the worst possible time and my consistency suffered. From now until January I have to tighten the reins. The Marathon will not be as forgiving as the Half. On the plus side, I did manage to maintain a pretty quick (for me) pace for 9 whole miles. That is huge. A bit of more consistency  in my training and I probably would have been able to go the entire way like that. The days of this Fat Runner dragging his feet at 18+ minutes per mile seem to be behind him. 

Fueling:

I have been thinking about my fueling strategy for the race quite a bit. I'm not sure but maybe I was too aggressive. I took four gels and used them at every other water stop. There were moment when I was feeling bloated. Like I had too much stuff in my stomach. So much so, that for the last gel I felt nauseous but only a little bit. However at the finish line I felt like I hadn't taken anything. Also, I didn't have any gas, heartburn, pain or any other GI symptom to make me believe there any ill effects. Either way, I would love to be able to use less of that stuff. What am I gonna do for the Marathon? Take 8 gels? I'm gonna need a support vehicle to get me by. Which reminds me...

Support Vehicles:

Some women running the race had their husbands/boyfriends/significant others ride along them during the race on a bicycle. They carried gels, water, food, sport drinks and is some cases they even played music. They were like a portable motivation station. I'm not sure it was officially allowed but it sure was cute.

My future running Half Marathons:

I am yet to run a full Marathon but as far as Half-Marathons go, I definitely want to run more of them. This may prove to be a little difficult given that there are not too many of those here but this is a distance I really liked despite all the struggle. Even though right now my focus is 100% on the Walt Disney World Marathon, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't set a goal of running a sub-3 hour Half in the not-so-distant future. It will be the long distance equivalent of the sub-40 minute 5K. Crazier things have happened.