Palmetto Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Run was going fine for first 7 miles or so. Was averaging 9:28 pace (range 9:09-9:54) and was looking to go sub 2:05 (9:32 pace). Coming up hill I took a mis-step on a manhole cover/pothole and not long after deep in my right glute started to cramp up. Tried to self-massage it and keep going but it kept getting tighter & tighter. The cramp/pull ended up changing my gait from a run to a hobble that caused a kinetic chain reaction of pain in my right front hip and then left foot. After seeing my time balloon up for the 8th mile I realized my day was pretty much done. Instead of pushing it and risking a real injury (it was a Hippocratic decision, "do no harm"), I bagged it and just walked/light jogged it in. Kinda bummed out but what can you do.

So many things probably led up to the cramp/pull: , being overweight with bad body composition, not enough training miles, lack of functional strength, lousy nutrition (and too much wine), dumb idea to begin biking the week before the race during my "taper," lack of a true taper for an A race, the list goes on. But it is what it is. Time to refocus, learn from my mistakes and try again.

Waited for my nephew to come in, grabbed a few Gatorades and stretched out as much as I could. (When I got home my beloved wife massaged my legs and brought the pain ... whew). Afterwards it was an afternoon in compression tights.


The direct cause was the glute cramp/pull. But there were many secondary causes which led to the direct cause.


Kudos to the volunteers for braving the rain, wind & lightning. Well done race that should be on your list if you are anywhere nearby.

In the grand scheme of things, one bad race isn't the end of the world. My family could care less if I ran a 1:20, 2:20 or 3:20 HM. I'm happy that I made it through relatively unscathed and am even healthy enough (and have the financial wherewithal) to train and race pretty much whenever I want to. I need to focus on my blessings and not my disappointments and move on. Doesn't necessarily remove the sting of a bad performance but as long as I learn from it I'll be fine.