The Redemption Run

In an effort to fully test my heart I ran another 1/2 Marathon on the 4th of July.  This race went much better than the last.  First off, my heart didn't bother me at all. However, the rest of my body was a little upset with me.  I decided to test my nutrition on the race.  I usually run with a couple of GU's and a camel back full of water.  This race I went with 1 16 oz water bottle of an electrolyte drink 30 minutes before the race, and when the race started I had about 3/4 of another 16 oz bottle of water left.  I felt really uneasy about not having my reserves.  I also ran without my phone/ipod. I guessed that I would run out of energy sometime in the race.  I was hoping that it would happen sometime between mile 12.75 and 13.1. 

The course was basically down Emigration canyon to the state capitol building.  Most of the course was down hill with a feel steep uphills.  The run itself was pretty good.  I stopped at the water stations and just kept running.  Like most of my races I went out pretty quick.  My pace was in the low 7's for the first 3 or 4 miles. I progressively got slower, but that was ok.  I wasn't really trying to break any records.  You can see the race info in the link to the right of this page.  The nutrition crash came around mile 9.  I could feel my legs just run out of juice.  The remaining 4 miles become less fun.  Being tired on the 1/2 marathon wasn't that big of a deal, but what worries me is next month I have to swim a mile and bike 57 miles BEFORE I even start the run....  I am definitely out of shape and heavier than I would like to be.  I  hope to drop another 5-8 lbs this month.

In my age group I came in 19th place out of 29.  My time was 2:02.  I wanted to break the 2 hour mark but like I said,  my legs were out of juice. It is however over 30 minutes faster than my last race.  It really helps when you don't have to stop and wait for your heart to slow down.  Not to make excuses as to why I wasn't faster, but for some reason the afternoon before the race I thought it would be a good idea to ride 26 miles when it was 101 outside. Strangely I was a little tired before the race. 

This is all building up to my next 2 races in the next month.  I am running my first real triathlon on Saturday, and the IronMan is 1 month away.  The triathlon this weekend will pretty much be my first tri.  I opted for the Olympic distance.  That is a 1500 meter swim, 40K (26 miles) bike, and a 10K (6.4 miles).  I am also using a wetsuit for the first time.  I am a little scared, a little excited, and still really nervous for August 7th.  I hope that this weekend goes well and I learn alot, because it is my only race before the big one.