Juddmansee.com

When I signed up for this race, I had a sneaky feeling the weather would be better than my October marathon and my Disney half. While yesterday’s weather was *spectacular* for February, today was not shabby either. The clouds were blown away by mid-morning and we had sun from 11am on for the Half at the Hamptons race (after a few flurries in the morning).

I first want to give a shout out to the race organizers. From packet pickup to race sponsors to volunteers to the course itself, the race was impeccably organized. If you’re looking for a well-run race, I would definitely recommend the Loco events. Plus they have the “Will Run for Beer” series, and I know a few friends who might embrace this motivation. They also seem to have a sense of humor: check out this video of the start (we’re being “Rick Rolled” for those of you who get the pop culture reference). I also had my first experience running seeing Team Hoyt – didn’t realize they had run the Disney half!

I admit, up front, that I had a great race. It’s taken me all day to concede this fact. I am in better racing shape than I’ve been in a long time. My primary goal was to lower my race pace from being comfortable in the 9min range to sub-8:30s, and today’s 8:16 pace was right on target to where I wanted to be. Check out the race results site and search for “Woodmansee” to find me. I was in the top 20% for my age group, woot! I also had a small victory in fueling: I managed to get water at mile 4, gatorade at mile 6, gel at mile 8 and water shortly thereafter, all without inhaling the fluids. This was particularly good for plastic cups, but again I give credit to the volunteers who were careful to hand the cups/gel instead of dangle it, and clearly announced the plan for each aid stop as the racers entered.

Now for the self-flagellation. I had butterflies that required two bathroom stops before the race, including the particularly inconvenient “I need to go NOW” 10 mins before the start. I went out too fast. I didn’t properly fuel my muscles on Saturday. I was too optimistic about my pace, thinking I could knock out 8:10s and still finish with sub-8s for the last 3 miles. I knew at mile 7 I had gone out too fast, but there was nothing to be done at that point. I thought about not ever racing again. I know I can run smarter. Ok, now that’s done.

Here’s the rundown of splits. I didn’t actually get the first mile, but I know I came through Mile 2 at 16:10.

I didn’t exactly charge down the coast from miles 9-12 as I’d planned, and the tailwind ended up being a cross-wind and even a headwind in a few places as we wound down 1A. But I pulled out a fast last mile, and ended up just under 1:48, not shabby for February!

I have not signed up for any other races at this point. My goal is to get through this week at work, then evaluate the plan in March.