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Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run - Run


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Mystic, Connecticut
United States
Mystic YMCA
62F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 257/693
Age Group = M18-39
Age Group Rank = 56/116
Pre-race routine:

1:30 pm start time. Wasn't sure what to eat throughout day to avoid having stuff sitting in my stomach. Had Cliff Bar, coffee for breafast. 1 1/2 hours before race had Cliff Bar, 3 slices toast with PB and sipped on Accelerade. 20 minutes before start had gel with water (in retrospect shouldn't have done this). Apparently my strategy didn't work (see run comments)
Event warmup:

Light stretching followed by 5 minutes easy jogging.
Run
  • 43m 50s
  • 5.5 miles
  • 07m 58s  min/mile
Comments:

62 degrees almost too warm for November in New England. Beat time from this race three years ago by 1:00. Despite being pleased with my overall time my race did not go as I would've liked. My tendancy has always been to take the first mile of a race out too slow so didn't want to make same mistake this time. Instead think I went out too fast today. 7:35 for mile 1 which included threading my way through group. Additionally, didn't do a good job of pre-race nutrition which may have set me up for stomach cramping that affected miles 4 and 5. Had to walk for ~15 secs between miles 3-4 to try to relax cramp. Walked ~10 secs between miles 4-5 when cramp came back. Today I was not mentally tough enough to push through these cramps. Felt like recovered for last 0.5 mile coming home.

Aside from my problems with the stomach cramps I have absolutely nothing to complain about my performance. This is the first time since high school that I've run a race at a sub 8 min/mile pace.

What would you do differently?:

Figure out better approach to pre-race nutrition when have a 1:30 pm start. For a 5.5 mile race worrying about what to eat during morning probably not as critical as I made it seem.

Take it out just a tad slower pace and work on negative splits.
Post race
Warm down:

Stretching, walk to car with family.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Stomach cramps.

Event comments:

This is always a fun race on a beautiful course out and back along the river. Always brings out the masses from the local running community. Best part of day was my son saying he wants to train to run the kid's race next year.




Last updated: 2005-10-29 12:00 AM
Running
00:43:50 | 05.5 miles | 07m 58s  min/mile
Age Group: 56/116
Overall: 257/693
Performance: Good
Watch time (43:29) from when hit start line. 21 second difference from official time. Splits based on watch time. 1 mile: 7:35 2 mile: 7:36 3 mile: 7:54 (hill section) 4 mile: 8:22 (struggled with stomach cramp, walk ~15 sec) 5 mile: 8:16 (still struggeled with stomach cramp, walk ~10 sec) Last 0.5 mile: 3:43
Course: Out and back along Mystic River starting on Pearl Street in Mystic. Hill section between miles 2 and 3 1/2. Beautiful views of river.
Keeping cool Average Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2005-11-06 7:01 PM

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Expert
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Oak Ridge,
Subject: Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run


2005-11-07 10:15 AM
in reply to: #279238

Expert
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Subject: RE: Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run
I always find those off time races hard to prepare for. It is easy to have a routine when it is first thing in the morning. The few times I did the Lake T races on Thursday nights, I had no idea what to eat.

You said you were not tough but I think sometimes it is better to take the few seconds to slow down or walk to get the cramps out. It might have saved you more time in the end. Great job on getting below 8:00 minutes per mile. I think we expect to see you below 7:00 by the spring Come on, you have all winter

Later

Mark
2005-11-07 10:16 AM
in reply to: #279238

Champion
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Subject: RE: Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run
Hey good race Aaron. Darn, I saw this one on the calendar too, but just couldn't get myself to drive down there again this weekend! Sounds like you had a good time though, despite the nutrition issues.
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