Too Old To Be Doing This

DAY 34
Deseret News July 24th 10k

If you will recall, I was at the Kenny Chesney concert last night. It was AWESOME! However, I was under the impression we were going to eat dinner beforehand, and so I didn't eat a lot for breakfast or lunch. But then we didn't go to dinner and there weren't a lot of options at the concert. I wasn't going to pay $5.50 for a small, gross, stadium hamburger, so I ended up with a tub of stale popcorn of which I didn't eat a lot of.

Then, we sat in the sun for 2 hours. I was drenched about 30 minutes into the concert. It was crazy. I had one bottle of water, but I definitely did not bring my hydration levels back up to where they needed to be.

We got to my mom's house at about 11:30. I was too hyped up from the concert to go to bed right away and so I got all my stuff ready for the morning and it was about 1 am before I fell asleep. At 4:30 am, the alarm went off and I didn't have an option to hit the snooze button. I drove to Hillary's parent's place and her dad drove us to the start line. I took an energy shot at about 5 am as I pulled up to the mortuary.

Hillary curled up and went back to sleep in the car, but I was too pysched to go to sleep. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on my way to the starting line. Hillary's dad took the most bizarre way to the starting line, but we got there with about 30 minutes to spare. We stretched a little bit and stood in line for a last minute potty break. This time, I took the break so I wouldn't have a repeat of July 4th.

At about 6:10, we started. I felt incredible. It was a little hard to seperate from the crowd and get going at a good pace. To meet my goal, I had to average a 9:39/mile pace. However, the first 3.5 miles were the best I have EVER felt running. I was cruising, having a good time. My only complaint is that I started off with a dry mouth and the first water station wasn't until 3 miles in. It wasn't manned very well either and utter chaos ensued that pulled me off my mark.

At 3.5 miles, I caught up to a friend from my Toastmaster's group I go to on Thursday nights. I ran with her for a few minutes and then I took off. She said later that she lost sight of me at about 4.20 miles. It was shortly after I took off from her that I bonked. I was having a hard time keeping pace and my energy was shot. I struggled down the parade route and knew it was going to be tight at the end to hit my target. I was a little disappointed because at the half way point, I was up 2 minutes.

When I turned the corner to run the last .20 miles, I knew I wasn't going to come in under my goal, but I gave it my best in that last quarter mile. It was a slight upgrade and I was breathing HARD. I crossed at 1:00:24. =( So close.

It was really hot on the course and I could've used another water station, but really what it came down to was that I'm too old to be pulling almost all-nighters at concerts and then running PR's at races seven hours later, especially without eating anything all day the day before. I need to do better with my nutrition and water intake the day before these big races. And sleep. I probably need to do better with these things overall.

I felt really nauseous and shaky afterwards, so I had to lay on the grass before I could walk back to the car.

My splits were:
Mile 1: 9:11
Mile 2: 8:59!!
Mile 3: 10:05 (thanks bad water stop)
Mile 4: 9:27
Mile 5: 10:03
Mile 6: 10:34
Mile 6.20: 9:41

I found the results and Hillary blew her time out of the water by crossing at 52:14, averaging 8:25/mile. That's where I want to be next year. I averaged 9:44/mile, which is pretty good, considering it's 2 minutes faster than 2007, when I ran it with Christina and training for a marathon. Plus, I didn't walk at all except for at the water stations. I have to keep telling myself that I did just have a baby 8 months ago. The speed will come--hopefully.

I have been wondering if I'm a slave to my watch and if I would run faster if I didn't have it. But, then I remember how surprised I am when I look down and I'm going so much slower than I thought I was. I have a hard time gauging how fast or slow I'm going. I just have to take baby steps and make reasonable goals and do the things I need to to get there. Patience...

We both missed Christina. =( She would've done awesome.

I want to know Hillary's version of the race, so I hope she posts something. Good job!