25k--the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Saturday was the BIG 25k race. My first time doing that distance, but I have done a few HM and one marathon a few years ago. I felt I had some experience and, therefore, in retrospect, underestimated how tough it was going to be.

It was in the 30's, windy, and snow/rain mix when I headed to the race. Wind gusts were around 35 mph. I had some friends come to watch and one of them let me wear her fuzzy winter coat until the race start. And once I got into the start chute with the crowds, the wind and cold wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

My projected pace from my training program was 10:20 min/mile with a finish time of approx. 2:40:30. But the last few weeks I've been running faster than my scheduled pace. I made a (probably unwise) decision to run as hard as I could (within reason) for as far as I could and see what happens.

And that's what I did.

The first 2-3 miles I was surprised to see I was pacing at 9:15 m/m. It felt really good and I decided to try and stick with that. I was able to keep that pace without difficulty for more than 10 miles.

And then my iPod stopped working. After that I landed funny on my left foot and my hamstring went berserk. I ended up walking all the downhills after that, limping on the flats, and doing alright on the uphills.

Around 12.5 miles, my blood sugar levels plummeted. I tried to take in some gu, but it felt like a rock in my stomach. It was painful. I tried taking in fluids, but that felt horrible too.

At mile 14.5, I started looking for first aid stations. I saw a guy laying on the street being helped by paramedics. My first instinct was to go lay down next to him.

At mile 15, I saw my friends waving and cheering me on. It felt like my head was separating from my body and was going to float away.

I finally crossed the finish line: 2:31:07.

Mentally, I was out of it. I wandered past the food stations, through the finish shoot, vaguely looking for first aid. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I know I was messed up.

When I didn't find a first aid station, I began wandering in the direction where my friends were planning on meeting. At some point a woman asked me if I was alright, I said "I don't know" and started crying.

A little later a police officer found me curled up by a building. He asked if I needed help. I told him I was supposed to meet my friends at a coffee shop. He thought he knew where I was talking about and helped me there.

My friends were waiting for me. They bought me a big hot chocolate and some bread with lots of chocolate chips in it. I felt a lot better after resting and eating. They said my voice was slurred when I first got there.

All in all, I feel it was a success. I beat my projected finish time by 10 minutes.

Goals for next year: I want to have a better nutrition plan. Now that I know I can run faster, I'll set up my training program for a faster pace. Then I'll have a better idea of what I am capable of on race morning.
:)

Wow, that's some serious bonk.

Good for you for beating your goal, especially so much ... and glad you didn't have any serious consequences to bonking.

Congrats! Enjoy your recovery.

Wow! I'm glad you're OK after that. You must have been freezing after the race, too. I didn't stick around the post-race long at all, since I was getting chilled.

You finished just a bit ahead of me...but I really slacked-off this year...still PRd, though. Had a great race (the long, rambling story is here) and fully intend to go <2:30 next year.

How are you feeling today? I swear I'm more sore today than I was yesterday, which doesn't make much sense. I want to get out on my bike for maybe an hour, but my quads are pretty cranky.

Sounds like you had a good race Zoom-Zoom! I'm hoping for under 2:30 next year too. I was so close this year. It was frustrating knowing in that last mile that I was going to miss it by just 60 seconds.

After I thoroughly warmed up and drank a gallon of hot coffee, I took an ice bath. That really seemed to help my legs. This AM I saw my doctor and she rolled out my hamstrings, pulled, pushed, and cracked a few other things. I'm feeling a lot better.

I spinned for about 60 minutes last night on a recumbent exercise bike. I followed that up with some yoga and stretching. I plan on doing the same routine tonight. Tomorrow I'll try doing a run again.

I was ill-prepared for this race. I had shortened two of my long runs. I only ran 11 miles when I was supposed to run 14. And then did 13.5 when I was supposed to do 16. I also replaced some runs with bike rides (even though I had only scheduled 3 runs a week).

Next year. 2:30. For sure ;)

Oh, you will definitely do better next year! I was a little concerned about those later miles, since I haven't done anything much over 13 in training since last Fall. But the substitution of biking for some of my running has definitely not hurt me. I think because I've been much better about doing actual running speedwork, instead of countless miles at the same pokey pace. It gave my muscles a bit more variety in training and better running economy on race day.

Wow, Lime, that's a scary tale. You posted a good time though. Congrats. I hope you are feeling better now.

Somehow I missed this one when you posted it, but congrats, both lime and zoom. You'll hit 2:30 next year for sure. :D But perhaps next time without the bonk. ;)

I think more finish lines need first aid people there to spot the bonkers, or finish line people need pointers from first aid of what to do if they see someone who looks like a zombie and can't focus or answer questions. If each person that handed out a medal or took off your chip or whatnot said "are you okay?" or "do you need anything?" and knew to look for crazy answers, non-answers, and slurred speech, we might save some people a little heartache. ;)