Germantown Half Report- The PR Streak is Over

No PR today. I just thought I'd get that out of the way right off the bat. I did try though. So here is what we are going to do. I have a video we are going to watch, then I will go over the race report, and finally we will reconvene and discuss any takeaways and wins from this race. Sorry for going all Corporate on you , but Daddy can talk upwards when needed. ;)

First, the video. I found this the other day and I think it was pretty darn funny and even funny because I got passed by a flightless bird around mile 9 today! So please, enjoy.

So which one are you?  Are you a Dandy??? 

Race report:
 I woke up around 5 AM and took a hot shower, then I got dressed, went to the bathroom and finally headed out to the race. I got there in plenty of time. My chiropractor was there and he helped stretch me out before the race which was really nice. I knew a couple of guys running this race, so I spent some time talking to Richard and William before I headed over to my corral. I saw Steve and Dwight and we all planned on being in the 8-9 minute corral, so after the National Anthem, I said a prayer and then the race started. I had my Garmin and hit the lap data on every mile, so that is how this will go.

Mile 1- 8:10
I always hate mile 1 of a race because it always means weaving through runners, but this race was really step up well and people were int he right areas, so I really did not have to weave to much. It is very hard to stay with people in a race this size, so I lost one of my running mates pretty quick. I purposely did not look at my Garmin until I saw the mile marker and then I was a little concerned about that pace for 12 more miles, but I was feeling good, so I figured, why not.

Mile 2- 8:57
Mile 2 was an uphill section that was pretty tough, I knew from previous experience that after the uphill, I was good for awhile, so it was just a matter of gritting it out. Again I was OK with this pace because I knew it was one of the hills I would run up. I lost my other running mate on this stretch, but I was still feeling good.

Mile 3-5- 8:58, 9:03, 9:18
Only thing I can say about this stretch of the race was that when I got to mile 5, I was expecting the mile marker to say 4, so that was a welcomed surprise for me. I could see the elites coming back during this stretch (they were almost to mile 9), and this really gave me a boost.

Mile 6- 9:21
Mile 6 went through a park, or more like around a park. I did stop in the bathroom to pee at the 6.5 mile mark, so I this 9:21 is good. At this point I knew I was falling behind if I wanted to PR, and I am not great at math while running, but I though I still had a chance. I was still feeling pretty good.

Mile 7-9- 10:16, 9:42, 10:44
I stopped at mile 8 to take an E-Gel and some water, hoping that would boost me for the remaining mileage. I started the dreaded countdown of miles at this point, but I knew I had 4 more in me, my only question was how fast could I do those 4 miles in? At mile 9, I did get passed my a guy that was a flightless bird, I even said out loud "A flightless bird!"  Luckily he had headphones on and did not hear me, but that was kind of funny and kind of depressing all at the same time!

Mile 10-12- 10:07, 10:05, 11:13
Mile 11 started back up a hill and I knew it was coming, but I was empty man. I was trying to maintain a pace and I wanted to run the whole thing, but I had to walk a bit here. I walked for 30 seconds between mile 11-12 and I hated doing that, but hey, it happened.

Mile 13- 10:15
I was not going to walk anymore, especially the last mile, so I gutted it out. I really thought I had a shot at a 2:05 finish, but it wasn't meant to be, so I just ran it out. I tried to hold off a guy that was sprinting to the finish line, but again, I had nothing left in the tank. I crossed the line at 2:07:08.

Age Group Finish 64/133
Overall Finish 606/1477

Takeaways:

1. I had not really trained for this distance. I have really just been focused on the MIM Olympic Tri and the 10k at the end of that race, so for me to be able to finish the half is a win.
2. I did not drink enough water on the course. I should have taken more drinks (they had more than enough chances for me). I also should have used my other E-Gel.
3. I am really sore as I am typing this. I wanted to take a nap, but the calve cramps are not allowing me too.
4. I did a poor job in fueling my body before the race. My stomach was not feeling stable that morning and all I had was a half of a banana and a little Gatorade. My fault there.

So overall I was happy with my run, I know if I had trained for this distance, I would have had a better time. I am also thrilled that alot of my friends that are new to running, or are just getting back into running had good days also! This run does give me a lot of confidence going forward with my training, PR or not.