2016 Park to Park Half Marathon recap

Some finish lines are more hard fought than others, but every finish line (none the less) is a victory. And, every race is a teacher.

Did that grab your attention?

This past weekend, I ran my sixth (consecutive) Park to Park Half Marathon (Waterloo, IA). This is one of those races I just cannot stay away from. I have had some great finish times. There have been some miserable weather conditions. And there have been days when I have totally tanked my performance. But still, I go back each year because this event is top-notch (there's also a 5K, 10K, and half marathon relay).

Ready for the start line

As mentioned, I have run this race five previous times. And, I have yet to snag a sub-2 finish time. Mind you, I have come close...my course PR is 2:00:45. And, this is the ideal course to spank a PR because it's relatively flat and it has probably 90% shade cover (no excuses, right?). But for some reason, that darn sub-2 has eluded me at Park to Park. Every. Single. Time.

But, let's back up and go back to the beginning....

My friend, Barb, and myself arrived in town the evening prior to race day, and stayed at a hotel. We went to the expo, got our goods, and grabbed dinner at IHOP (actually, it was more like breakfast...omelets and pancakes!).

Go Hawkeyes! Beat State! (spoiler alert--the Hawkeyes won!)

Barb and I are both University of Iowa alumni, and race day also was the day of the big football game against our inner-state rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones. Both of us brought along UofI clothing to wear for the race (and there were several Cyclone fans dressed in their gear as well).

We arrived at the race early, and had plenty of time to relax before the start time. We had been warned there would be water on the course (due to recent heavy rain) that could not be avoided. The Cedar River was predicted to crest on Sunday, so the race director had gotten the "all clear" (from the park ranger) to keep the race scheduled (we later learned that the water had risen several inches over the time span of the race. Had this race been scheduled for Sunday, it would have been cancelled).

The temps were near perfect (mid 50's), and the humidity was MIA.

My plan in getting to that sub-2 (or at the very least, a course PR) was to start out easy, and crank out a negative split (run the second half faster than the first half). My typical stiffness (glutes/piriformis/hamstrings) was very minimal, so I was optimistic things would go well.

The first couple miles felt pretty good. I remember glancing at my watch near the 2-mile mark and noticing it was showing my elapsed time (instead of my pace)...not a big deal. I probably hit another foreign button, and would have to wait until I was finished to see the individual splits/paces.

The race director told us the water was after the 4-mile mark....so when I came upon the flooded trail, I tried to veer off in the grass (only to have even more water and muddy grass to deal with). Bad idea. Thankfully, it was only for 100 yards or so (but it was ankle deep at the minimum).   Imagine my surprise when a short ways later there was another section of water on the trail. Ugh. I managed to "high-step" my way through the first crossing, but I chose to walk through the second one. The asphalt trail was difficult to see through the water and I didn't want to take a chance and face plant.

Can you believe the water? (pic from my friend,Sheryl)

Wouldn't you know? There were two more water crossings a short ways later! These were both much deeper...the water came up at least half way on my shins (and I have long legs).  Double ugh. Not only were my (pretty) shoes and (wool) socks saturated, but also my calf sleeves. And this was all before the 5-mile mark. Although it was a bit comical hearing everyone's shoes squeaking and sloshing, I couldn't help wondering what my feet and toes would feel like for the next eight miles.

The water was deep and cold! (another pic from Sheryl)

Happy to have the water behind me, I pressed on. The next part of the course is my least favorite. It's around the 5-mile mark where the course winds out of the park and onto a sidewalk along a city road, leading us to a short jaunt along the edge of a residential area. This involves a very good (bad?) hill, then another 1.5 mile or so of a flat (but curving) cement path back to the park trail. It's long, flat, boring and it feels like you are going nowhere. Just saying.

It was also about this time I could feel my mojo evaporating and my pace slowing down. Did I mention there also was a major head wind for these couple of miles as we made our way back to the park trail? Ugh. It was all I could do to not pull over and walk....my toes were already feeling sore from the wet shoes and socks, there was a dull ache developing in my tummy, and I could tell my energy was on a downward spiral. I had a Huma gel with me, but I was leery of taking it too soon (since I wasn't at the halfway mark) and I didn't have water with me (but I knew there would be a water stand near the 7-mile mark).

My watch showed I was just under an hour as I passed the 6-mile mark, so my pace was still in the game, but I would have no wiggle room and would really have to up my pace if I wanted a shot at pumping out a negative split. A course PR was still a possibility, but a 13.1 PR probably not. And the sub-2 was not looking very doable either.

I got to the 7-mile water station, gulped down the gel and drank some water quickly as I walked for a few steps. My stomach was feeling really strange, but I didn't need a potty stop. So, I pressed on. I kept hoping the gel would give me a little boost of energy, but I couldn't feel anything changing with my pace...and my gut was still a mess.

My watch showed 1:25 as I passed the 9-mile mark. Four miles (and some change) remained. Finally, I accepted the fact that I just didn't have it in me to make the sub-2 happen. On any given day, I probably could have ran those 4.1 miles in the 34:59 minutes (or less) standing between myself and that sub-2 finish time. But, it wasn't going to happen with dwindling energy and a messed-up tummy.

I'm not a negative person, but the reality of my situation smacked me in the face. I'm not one to give up, either, but at that moment in time everything was looking pretty hopeless. My stomach still ached, so I decided to pullover and take a quick potty stop...kind of a last-ditch effort to "fix" the tummy situation in hopes that I'd be able to get back in the game (physically and mentally). Except, there was only one porta pot, and it currently was occupied....by a very slow porta pot inhabitant. UGH. I'm not sure how long I waited, but it felt like an eternity.

Miles 10 and 11 went alright, albeit slower than desired. I even walked a few times (in the midst of self pity). Finally, when I made it to the start of mile 12, I felt a bit of my energy renewed. Even though I ran the final two miles at (what felt like) a decent pace, the damage had been done and there was no undoing it. My official finish time was 2:14:45...not my worst half marathon, but definitely towards the bottom. And, my watch's GPS function failed...so I do not know my splits.



So, what went wrong? Looking back, I can spot a few obvious possibilities, the biggest one being my fuel (geesh, here we go again). Remember that Friday night dinner at IHOP? Well, I could only eat half of my omelet, so I took the leftovers to the hotel and ate them for breakfast on race day. And, I typically do not eat omelets on race day (I usually go with oatmeal and/or a granola bar). I also have some sort of "fuel" prior to the start line. I had some Beet Boost and PlowON gum...but nothing else (because I assumed the omelet would be enough to get me through two hours (or less LOL) of running (how's that for optimism?). What never crossed my mind (until a few hours after I finished) was that the eggs gave me plenty of protein, but not much in terms of carbs (duh!). Apparently, my tummy does not like eggs prior to running (lesson learned).

What else? Remember I waited until mile seven before taking the gel, even though I could feel my energy dissipating around the fifth mile? Well, this was not my first rodeo, but ignoring the warning signs of "low fuel" was pretty naive-like. To run a successful race, the racer needs to stay ahead of the game in terms of fueling and hydration....if you start to feel tired or thirsty, it's (usually) too late. (another Duh!)

As mentioned, having done this race five times prior, I knew miles 5-7 were my least favorite part of the course. I was already dreading them at mile four (as I trudged through the numerous water crossings). My energy was dwindling, my gut ached, and there was that head wind....and my shoes and socks were sopping wet.  Not a great scenario with almost half of the race remaining.

Anyways, the bottom line is that I should have known better. This was my 29th half marathon. I can't help but wonder if by doing so many of these races, I'm starting to take them for granted. Running 13.1 miles is no longer a challenge, so I'm not fueling (or breakfasting) as effectively as I used to. My 2:14:45 finish was very disappointing....not because it's a bad finish time, but because it's much slower than what I know I am capable of doing.  Granted, my energy was tapped, but I regret not making more of an effort to keep my head in the game.

None the less, this is a great event. The course is beautiful, the communication (regarding race day details) is excellent, there are numerous volunteers at the many water stations and a huge post-race party with plenty of food and drink. The swag, also, is top-notch...long-sleeve gender-specific tech fabric shirts (for the half marathoners), crazy beautiful medals and unique race bibs. I even won a hat (from one of the many contests via their event page on Facebook)!

Will I return for a seventh go at that (still elusive) Park to Park sub-2? Most definitely! Care to join me?

**side note** After my disappointing performance (in the final miles) at Park to Park, the old confidence (in my running shoes) took a nose-dive...but I redeemed myself with a great negative split (6-mile) run on Tuesday. My warm-up was 9:38, then the splits were 10:29, 10:11, 10:06, 9:48, and 9:33. Life is good again. 

Have you ever had a great race that derailed late in the game? Were you able to rally back? Or did it take a few training runs after the race to get your mojo back?   

I'm linking up with Deb at Deb Runs for the Wednesday Word link-up...and (drum roll) today's word is Teach.