When I got home from the race feeling exhausted and overall happy with my effort my two oldest sons, Judah (8) and Ezekiel (5) began to ask me how it went.
Judah: “Dad how did you do in the race?”
Me: “I did good, I think I finished about 8th place.”
Ezekiel: “Did you win anything dad?”
Judah: “Of course he didn’t win anything! You don’t get a prize for 8th place!
Ezekiel: “Oh. Dad what happened?”
Judah: “Yeah Dad what happened? You know we still love you, but what happened?”
Me: “Nothing happened. I did my best and had a lot of fun. It was really hard.”
Judah: “It’s okay that you didn’t win Dad we still love you.”
Ezekiel: “Yeah.”
Nothing like your kids to be honest with you and let you know that they think you are the best at whatever you do. =)
I did have a lot of fun in the race and learned a lot that I hope to take with me as I move forward in pursuing longer trail races.
- Fueling is very important. I did not have a plan for this and figured I would just eat or take gels when I needed them. I only carried a 12 ounce water bottle. I figured I would refill it at the aid stations if I ran out. The problems came when I didn’t take a gel or any food around 12 miles because I was feeling good. I debated it but decided to wait. Then at an aid station around 16 miles I didn’t refill my water bottle because it was still half full. Well around 20 miles (3 hours) I started struggling and had no water or fuel. My next opportunity came at 25 miles which I quickly learned is a lot longer than 5 miles on the road.
- You can bounce back from a rough patch. Once I was able to refuel I started feeling a lot better and after about 20 minutes was back to running pretty strong though I was tired. My confidence came back quick. This just reinforced the need to fuel properly and have at least a simple plan going into the race.
- There are a lot of great people out there. I had some great conversations on the trail with some new people and received a ton of encouragement when I was struggling. A few people even offered me a bar or gel when they went by me. This was my favorite part of the experience.
- Finally, I learned that I am a rookie on anything this long and I have a lot of room for improvement. I walked away from Saturday feeling excited to get back out there and compete again soon.
Overall I feel like I could have done a lot better had I not made some mistakes but I am so glad I just jumped in and ran even though I didn’t feel as prepared as I felt like I should have been. I am excited to finally be exploring this side of the sport and where my potential in it. And who knows maybe I can eventually win something and make my kids proud. =)
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