The overall theme for the day was "No Drama"....so to some this might not be a very exciting race report...you decide.
I had a good night of sleep so woke up at 5am rested and excited to take the day in hand. Another tip I learned (more from bad race experiences than forward thinking) is to get everything ready the night before, including the list of "what to do in the morning" as a step-by-step guide. Really helps....meant I didn't forget money, or my fuel belt....food was not good, bad stomach (this is a theme lately, going to have to assess at some point)
Drive to park and bus facility, got on the bus and got to the location. Again no drama. Put on bib, walked to start, and tried to keep warm (it was VERY VERY COLD!!!) which led to a last minute race clothing change.
Met some Geocaching / TCSD racing friends and stood at the start with them. Got the last minute race tips, listened to a gorgeous rendition of Star Spangled Banner, and 'Bang' the gun went off. Shuffled across the line and kept to the strategy.
My Race Strategy
- Run at pace I know I can take for most of the race (11 minute miles).
- Pick it up at Mile 10 with what's left in the gas tank.
- Run the whole time, do not do a race/walk approach in this race.
- Drink my fuel drink at each mile marker
- Drink water at each station
- Eat GU after 1 hour.
I decided to turn down the BEER at Mile 1 and SANGRIA at Mile 3. I did see quite a few take it up though....
Race had hills and many people said "man this is a hilly course" and indeed it was up and down the whole time, but I have to say it HILLS WERE NOT BAD AT ALL. Perhaps my training has prepared me for worse than this, but Barrie's Wednesday hikes see more than this, my Hill repeat runs has more incline in 1 hill than most of the hills together. So I guess GOOD MARKS for me on this one. It just never really phased me.
So all was good until Mile 9.5 when I got a twinge in the knee. Crap! Typical that Nigel does nothing, has a bad knee and is fine whilst I train and do plenty of knee strengthen exercises and get the knee issue.
I got with what I got, try a lopsided run to take the weight on other knee but eventually at Mile 11.5 I have to stop, stretch it out, and walk it. Tried a knee brace but didn't help. Went into my mental funk that did not accomplish my goals on running the whole time, but you got to deal with these things...there were many people around that had walked in the race - either as strategy or not.
Did a "run a bit, walk a bit" for the next 1 mile but hurt more to start running after the walk. So at Mile 12.5 I turned up the music, put on a power song and picked up my pace. The pain subsided and I felt good so the final hill was a fun climb, passing many people up and seeing what I had left in the tank for the finish.
Final Results: 2:16:59 against my goal of 2:20 hours. Feel good. Knee got iced for most of day, feels sore but not broken, so got to focus on this.
My mile splits were fairly consistent with my plan. Not trying to go out too hard, and pick it up towards the end (more 9's than 10's) and adjust for the knee issue in Mile 11, 12.
Congratulations to the whole team that did a great job across the board. There were a few sub 2 hours in the pack - great running overall!
On to the next race: Super Sprint Olympic Tri in March when the focus is to put the triathlon package together...
