Go One More Half Marathon

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Go 1 More Marathon (Half Marathon) Race Recap

Friday (Day before the race)

The day before race morning was a travel day for this race. The day started early with a wake time at 3:35AM, and a flight at 7:10AM.

Woke up at 3:35AM, had 1 shot of espresso to get that morning poo in motion. For a snack before we hit the road, I had 2 eggs.

Breakfast

• 1 shot espresso

• 2 eggs (~4:10AM)

• Protein Pancakes

  • Consumed ~5 in car, ~4:30AM

  • Consumed ~2 on plane, ~8AM

• Granola Bar (on plane)

• Goldfish, small bag (on plane)

• 2 Cups of coffe (on plane, small cups)

We arrived in Austin at 11AM, got our rental car, and head to the Airbnb. We stopped and grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch on the way. I ate part of Sam’s sandwich that she was unable to eat. We then went grocery shopping while Sam was on a work phone call.

Lunch

• Chicken Pesto Sandwich and French Fries (12:15PM)

  • Sourdogh

  • Chicken

  • Cheese

  • Pesto Sauce

We went to BPN for packet pickup around 3PM. We waited in line to meet Nick Bare for what must have been 1.5-2 hours. During this period I drank no water. After freezing our ass off in line (low 50s, windy, in the shade) we met Nick, and got tacos to eat in the car.

Snack

• Taco from Taco Truck (~6PM)

  • Flour tortilla

  • Green Chile Salsa

  • Ground Beef

  • Cheese

  • Pineapple

  • Lime 

For dinner we made chicken and pasta.

Dinner

• Baked Chicken Breast (1 breast)

• Pasta (White flour based)

• Red Sauce (light on the sauce!)

Saturday (Race Day)

The morning started at 4:20AM. Woke up, drank remainder of water bottle, made some espresso, went to bathroom. Packed up bags, got everything ready to leave by 5AM.

Went to the bathroom right before we left; with those race day nerves we gotta get that bladder empty!. Hit the road at 5AM, consumed the following in route to the race.

Breakfast (in car, ~5:10-5:20AM)

• 1 Banana

• 1 Squeeze Bottle of G1M (drank between car ride and bus ride to course)

• ~2.5 Cups of Apple Sauce

• 3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter

When we arrived at BPN around 5:31AM, I said goodbye to Sam and Steve and head over to the porta-potties. Hit the bathroom again before getting on bus. Once on the bus, we waited for a bit (5-10min) and then departed. I sat next to a gentleman named Adrian from California. This was his first marathon and road race. The ride to the racecourse was about 30 minutes. Arrival at the racecourse was about 6:40AM, and we had to be ready to start at 7:40AM. I went pee after getting off the bus (3rd/4th pee of morning).

It was very chilly outside, low 30s, windy, and sun was not up yet. Most people where inside but I did not want to be around all those people in an enclosed area, so I stayed outside mostly. I was very cold, but kept moving around, whether walking, or doing some light dynamic movements. Went pee again before starting the warm up (4th/5th pee), probably a high score at this point.

I began officially warming up around 7:10/7:15. I started with a jog, and then did a variety of dynamic and quick feet movement activities in a large patio area (no strides).

At 7:30AM I dropped my bag off and went down near the start line to do some strides and more jogging. I was only wearing shorts and a long sleeve at this point, and it was very chilly.

The Race

Wearables

• Long sleeve (removed at mile 1.5/2)

• Light weight tank top

• Tracksmith Gloves (life saver)

• Phone belt

• Race Belt (for the bib number)

Nutrition

• Honey Stinger Gels (QTY 4)

  • First, 15 min before race start (745AM)

  • Second, 25 min into race

  • Third, 55 min into race

• G1M cup at every aid station (2 miles or so) ~ 1 or 2 mouth fulls of liquid. Super convenient that they had G1M on course. If only all races did this.

Pacing Mind Set

• Since the course was expected to be primarily down hill for the first part, I executed like I needed to be as fast as possible for the first part of the race. I allowed my HR to be at the top of Z4 (176) for a majority of the first part of the race. I even let myself hit 178/179 a few times as I tried to take ground.

• There were lots of hills, all rolling, and I absolutely sped up on the downhill, and slowed down on the uphill. However, I did not allow myself to slow down too much on the up hill, and challenged myself to hold my pace, and just play with cadence more and lean into the hill to keep momentum up the hill. This worked with majority success!

• When we hit the turnaround point, the wind became very apparent. There was a headwind for 95% or more of the entire way back to the finish line. Since the majority of the course home was gaining elevation, the 6 miles home were very tough. However, I just focused on staying consistent, and pushing through the discomfort to keep the legs turning over.

• I wanted to negative split on my way back to the finish line, however, I didn’t have much left in the tank after the hills and headwind coming into the finish line. I did dig deep as I went past the last aid station at the base of the hill coming up to the finish line. Pushed REALLY hard to get up that hill, but I’m not sure I saw much speed from that; may have just sustained!

Cramps/Pain/Discomfort

• From about mile 2, I had the feeling of a side stitch that was about to happen on my lower left side oblique. This cramp never happened, however it was uncomfortable.

• It was difficult to breathe at a few moments, and this may have been related to my fear that if I breathed too heavy I would get a cramp!

• The last 1-2 miles was very uncomfortable, the quads were very tired, and very sore.

Weather

• The race day started in the low 30s, windy (~10mph), and dark

• Race start was after the sun had just come up, still in mid 30s maybe low 40s.

• Once in sun, air was cold but heating up quickly. Body temp increasing made the weather very optimal for running.