Bitterwhiteguy

Pre-race routine:
Karen & I packed up and drove out to Ft. Worth. The drive was pretty easy, just long.

Event warmup:
The usual stretching, etc.

Run
03:19:45 | 15.53 miles | 12m 52s min/mile

Comments:

I started off solid, running a reasonable pace and trying to keep myself at a solid but sustainable HR. I wanted to finish in under 12 min/mile, which would be 3:06. The first lap went well, I felt strong. In fact, both of the first two laps felt really good. I was chugging along, listening to my iPod and keeping a decent pace. Every mile that ticked by, I was gaining time on my 12:00/mile goal. My HR was a little higher than I had planned, but I was feeling good and seemed under control. The 3rd lap was more of the same; I even had a good 2nd wind and was able to push down my time on a couple laps in that 3rd lap. Through 3 laps I was on pace for about a 3 hour run. Then things changed.

The 4th lap was going OK; I was slower but still feeling decent. At 10 miles in, I was nearly 4 minutes under my goal pace and still making headway. 11 miles in, I started getting really fatigued. Up to this point I had made a habit of walking the aid stations(there were 2 per lap) to help keep me going. I hit the aid station on the backside of the lap, walked it, had a quick drink, then kept going. But about half a mile later(11.6 miles in), I cracked. HARD. My legs were toast. It wasn't cramping, it was just being out of gas. I hit a low that I haven't felt in a long time. Actually, I don't recall ever being this out of gas. I ended up walking most of the rest of this lap, which was about 3/4 of a mile. I seriously considered dropping out after this lap. Karen - who at the first turnaround in lap 4 was about 4 minutes behind me - passed me with probably 4/10ths of a mile left in the lap and kept on chugging. (Anyone that's seen her speed-walking knows what I'm talking about, the girl's a machine.) The reason I kept going was because I know I'll be suffering at Longhorn and I can't quit then, so I might as well stick it out here too. I decided to drop everything I didn't need at my bag and try to run/walk the rest of it. I dropped off my Camelbak, iPod, and a couple other things at the bag, then kept going. I would walk 1/10th of a mile then jog 1/10th of a mile. I ended up doing this for the entire last lap. The last lap was entirely mental. My legs weren't taking me further unless I willed my way through it. It took forever, but I finally finished and collapsed on the grass where they were taking the chips back. Karen was there and she got me some Nuun & some water, some of which I drank. After a bit, we drove home and went to bed.

Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed AHR MHR
1 11m 18s 1.00 miles 11m 18s /mile 161 175
2 11m 16s 1.00 miles 11m 16s /mile 170 177
3 11m 39s 1.00 miles 11m 39s /mile 172 175
4 11m 38s 1.00 miles 11m 38s /mile 172 178
5 11m 47s 1.00 miles 11m 47s /mile 174 182
6 11m 51s 1.00 miles 11m 51s /mile 174 177
7 11m 44s 1.00 miles 11m 44s /mile 177 181
8 11m 27s 1.00 miles 11m 27s /mile 181 191
9 11m 54s 1.00 miles 11m 54s /mile 178 183
10 12m 02s 1.00 miles 12m 02s /mile 182 188
11 12m 27s 1.00 miles 12m 27s /mile 182 188
12 14m 32s 1.00 miles 14m 32s /mile 174 185
13 18m 10s 1.00 miles 18m 10s /mile 155 174
14 15m 50s 1.00 miles 15m 50s /mile 161 175
15 16m 54s 1.00 miles 16m 54s /mile 158 177
16 05m 16s 0.38 miles 13m 51s /mile 169 185

What would you do differently?:

I'm not sure what went wrong exactly. I've hit the wall before and I've gone and done an event I'm not trained for before; this didn't feel like either. When I hit the wall in the past, the descent into pain wasn't nearly this fast. When I wasn't trained for the event, cramping was a major issue. I didn't cramp at all. I think there were a couple factors at play.

1) I was over-caffeinated. I drank a Monster on the way to the event, plus about half the Gus I used had caffeine in them. I'm sure I went over my limit.
2) I didn't get a nap during the day. Karen had a 3 hour nap, which helped her I'm sure. I tried to get some sleep, but to no avail.

Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

My nutrition was good(between the Endurolytes, Gu, & water/nuun I wasn't even near cramping) and though I'm sure I could have trained more for the event I don't think I was out of shape. It just wasn't my day.

Event comments:

The event was well-organized and they had a good idea of how to cater to the running crowd. The volunteers were friendly and helpful. My only suggestion would be that they add an aid station on the course. 2 wasn't that bad, but 3 would be ideal. Oh, and closer parking would be nice. Having the parking lot half a mile from the race sucked.