Blergh.

So I was wound up for this race. It was the first time I felt like I had a realistic shot at the Top 50, and I was pretty nervous. It was also the first time the race was chip timed. I got up towards the front and man was the setup stupid. In the middle of the start line they had the timing booth, so you bascially had a couple of thousand runners who had to part to the right or the left at the start line.

Of course when the gun went off you had the usual walkers at the front, who immediately got ran over by the runners. I had to fight my way through a bunch of people before I got out in front.

The first mile was fine, other than the fact that I ran it in about 5:45. Which was absolutely ridiculous. I think I was just too hyped up and maybe since my last race was a 1 mile race I was just stuck in that mode. Anyways, I obviously blew up after this 1st mile and sucked the rest of the race. I actually had to walk for a minute just to get things back under control. To add insult to injury I had to do it again at the water stop about halfway in. My mouth was parched and I just didn't feel good at all.

I got through it, but I wasn't happy about it.

I would pace myself better at the start of the race and I would make sure I was adequately hydrated beforehand. I've never been so thirsty in my life, which is ridiculous for a 5K.

I walked over to the water and discovered to my horror they weren't handing out bottles. They had 2 volunteers pouring water into Dixie cups...that's right... a race that draws 2000 people and they had 1 table with 2 volunteers pouring the water. Nice.


My own stupidity.


This was the 8th time I've done this race and usually it is awesome. But this year I was very disappointed by the inadequate water after the race.