burnt out - Slacker Half marathon race report
I love to race and I like to be "hungry" to race....to see what I got...to see what I can pull out...to see how much I'm willing to suffer.
June 23rd (date of the Slacker Half Marathon) would be my ~9 month running anniversary and my 4th half marathon in 9 weeks...based on the way I was feeling going into it - I realized I was burnt out.
I was ambivalent about this race. Usually there isn't any question - if I'm lining up to race - I'm in it to "throw down!". I had told my friends I was undecided on how I'd approach the race. It took me a good 10 days to recover from the Steamboat Half and with the Slacker having 2k+ feet of descending - I didn't want to have a long recovery period. In my ambivalence - I figured I'd just go with what I "felt" like doing...if it was to throw down and be on the rivet or if I just wanted to go out for a casual 13.1 miler - so be it.
The good thing about being ambivalent, is there are no pre-race nerves. The bad thing about being ambivalent, is there isn't the feeling of anticipation and excitement. I felt ho-hum as I got up @ 5pm to drive from Breckenridge to Georgetown.
The Race
I was a little late getting to the start and got a text from Jill that I could ride with her to the start...but since I got there late I got to ride the bus. The buses were few and far between and I heard from many that this particular race always starts late. The bus dropped us off at 8am (the time the race was supposed to start) I had time to visit the port-a-john, drop a drop bag and mosey my way to the start. I saw Jill at the start - this amazing woman had raced the Mt. Evans Ascent the week before, was going to do a "casual 2 - 2:05" for this race and the race the Leadville Heavy Half the next weeks.We started ~8:20 and even at 10k elevation - it was getting warm. I saw Jill take off and never saw her again until after the race.
The first mile was crowded and dusty and I didn't push too hard. After mile 2 I kinda settled into a tempo pace and not a hard race pace. I kinda didn't want to be there, but I told myself to shut the negative thinking and enjoy the fact I was out on a 13 mile run. It's a great course...very scenic.
I think have have the nutrition/hydration thing dialed in. In all my 4 half marathons - I've never been glycogen depleted - so the 100 calories every 30 minutes seems just about right. I also carry 10oz nuun and 10oz water - that seems to be the right amount of fluids for a half as I finished off the last of my liquids at mile 12. My legs felt decent the whole time and I cruised on the downhills and ran slowly on the few uphills.
There was no drama for me during this race and no suffering either. I crossed the finish line in 1:59:36. I was please with another sub-2 hour marathon, esp considering my lack of motivation.
I had a chance to finally meet Kathy after the race. She had some GI issues so didn't get to run as hard as she wanted. She ran a 1:59:20 - so we must've been close to each other the whole time. I talked to Jill and Kathy for a little bit after the race, but I had to boogie back to Breck. Dave was running 18 miles in Breck and I was supposed to pick him up at the end of his run.
Aftermath
I accidentally negative split this race. I didn't have any intention to do this - it just happened that way. I ran the 1st half of the race in 1:00:30 and the 2nd half in 59:02. My legs felt good the whole time, esp toward the end of the race so I just went with it.As you can see my splits were all over the place and obviously I must have done a lot of wandering all over the course as my total distance was 13.47 (whoopsie). My HR average was a sedate 157. Usually my race HR avg is in the 167 - 173 range.
This is a great course and I'm slightly disappointed in myself for not pushing harder. I have decided this will be one of my "A" races next year. I think my attitude is telling me to back off on the racing a bit and get back on my mtn bike. I'm not going to sign up for another half until I'm very hungry.
Comments
But I am sooooo jealous of this race. I wanna race in Colorado!!
Be proud of yourself!! If you felt you should keep it in low gear - your body might be letting you know something ;)
I am extremely impressed that you have done 4 marathons in the 9 months you've been running. Seriously, that's pretty hard core stuff and I don't blame you one iota for being burnt out. You have done remarkably well and I am so proud of all the halves - and others - you have accomplished! Congratulations. Enjoy your little hiatus and if you're in Breck next weekend, I'll be up there at my aunt's condo from Fri - Sun....give me a shout and maybe we can hook up for a chat or something :).
I have been meaning to respond to your previous comment in regards to nutrition during a half marathon.
The liver can store between 1200 - 2200 calories of glycogen.
Since I'm petite (4'10") I assume I am on the lower end of that scale. I did a FUEL test a few months back and I burn 650 - 700 carbs(glycogen) per hour at race pace. So I require ~1300 - 1400 glycogen for a half marathon.
If I can only store 1200 calories then that means in the later miles of a half marathon - I would be glycogen depleted. The body can only intake 200-300 calories per hour during exercise...so I have found that 100 calories every 30 minutes keeps my glycogen stores topped off and my stomach happy by not to trying force in too many calories too late into the game. I have also found that I can run strong through the end of a half and I contribute that to keeping the calories coming in at a steady rate.
Last year when training for the 6 day mtn bike race - i became an "expert" on glycogen depletion - and I learned through trial and (painful) error what works for me. Sadly not one-size-fits-all - so YMMW. and yes - I'm a TOTAL geek when it comes to nutrition and numbers with running. :) I can talk ad nauseum about this stuff - so if you want more (semi-informed) info - shoot me an email!