The Good, Bad, Ugly... Race Quips

Howdy folks! My Pensacola 1/2 Marathon Race Report will be finished tomorrow. Understandably, I've been in a bit of a funk today - first with the race, then with the weather (thunderstorms and tornados again!), and finally I'm feeling the affects of Sushi Overload (nothing gets me going like Cambodian Rolls - said with smile on my face and eyes slightly out of focus.... mmmmmm). And besides - I've got my 0530 Master's Swim tomorrow. Bright and early! Hurrah!

So here are a few quips from my race today - enjoy!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly... Pensacola Half-Marathon.

The Good: Seeing Nathaniel's smiling face this morning
The Bad: It was 5:15 am when I saw his smiling face (early!)
The Ugly: I had been up since 3:30 - eating my breakfast of oatmeal and too excited to sleep.

The Good: Running around before the start, seeing good friends (Ryan, Ryan's family, Jennifer, Jennifter's Mom, and several other folks I know through biking/swimming/running but couldn't quite recognize... remember - I'm awful with names!). And then seeing more friends at the finish - Donna, Mark, and a few others.
The Bad: Seeing a sky full of dark, racing clouds.
The Ugly: Watching the Pelicans fly as fast and as far away from the storm as possible. I have never seen as many Pelicans flying NorthEast at any other time in my life. Yes - the weather would turn ugly... (but later!)

The Good: I was able to pee twice before the race start
The Bad: It wasn't in a porta potty or in the woods (yuck)
The Ugly: The line for the Port-O-John. Eeeeek! What's a hydrated-girl to do?

The Good: Feeling as though I was flying through parts of the course
The Bad: Hitting a hill and feeling my pace drop. A lot.
The Ugly: Knowing that I could have gone faster, had I used tempo trainers or race flats. Apparently - people do this (my coach just about fell off her chair when I asked her to tell me what tempo trainers were for - great!). For all this time, I've been using my regular training shoes to race in... yeah don't make too much fun of me. Remember, it was only recently that I started biking without underwear.

The Good: I get to get more shoes! Yeah!
The Bad: Buying more shoes.
The Ugly: Wondering how much of a difference this would have made in season's past.

The Good: The tremendous volunteers and race support
The Bad: Not enough people saying "thank you" as we passed them by
The Ugly: All the cups and crap they cleaned up afterwards - they do such an incredible job and these races would not be able to happen if it weren't for volunteers.

The Good: Dumbledore
The Bad: Dumbledore
The Ugly: Dumbledore

The Good: Relaxing for the first 5K, 10K, and then assessing how I feel
The Bad: The wondering of "am I working hard enough."
The Ugly: When I realized that "yes, I have been working hard enough!"

The Good: Hearing Nathaniel's wonderful voice on the course, cheering for me and giving me the time between me and the pack of people in front of me.
The Bad: I ran the entire way practically in no-mans land - There was a group of 3-4 about :40-:60 ahead that I could see the entire time, but couldn't catch. (Until the final 1 mile.)
The Ugly: Passing the first place female, Jennifer (an incredibly sweet, shy, fast, nice, awesome runner/person) with about 1/2 mile left and knowing that I was doing so partly because she was having a tough race. She is incredibly fast, and a few days ago she mentioned that she was going to try to run 1:22 or so... When I passed her, I could tell she was suffering. I hate seeing people have a bad race, giving it their all, but just not having a good day. It's painful - as I want everyone to accomplish their goals, to succeed if they can. Passing her was bittersweet. I didn't care about place, and I was only running for time, running my own race. But I know how awful it feels to get passed towards the end, after you've poured your heart and soul into something - and my heart went out to her as I went by.

The Good: The wind (it was my friend. All the power sets I've done on my long rides - a few minutes here, a few minutes there - have really made a difference in these two weeks. I feel so much stronger.) Today, the 20 mph SE wind (constant!) was my friend.
The Bad: The wind (for everyone else). A LOT of people were complaining about it afterwards.
The Ugly: The tornados that swept through after the wind. Luckily the race was over with - but the front was passing through during our race. Nice.

The Good: Subway Cookie after the race
The Bad: Nearly choking on my water while scarfing down my cookie.
The Ugly: There were witnesses

The Good: Overcoming the mental demons that crop up during every race - wondering if I should pick up the pace during the 2.5 mile stretch between miles 9.5-12, while running directly into the fierce headwind. I did, and closed the :40 gap on the group in front of me.
The Bad: The constant wondering of whether or not I could make it to the group (I did eventually - and passed them all by the end)
The Ugly: The spit on my face that I couldn't get off during this stretc. I kept trying to wipe it away, but was so focused... it just stayed there.

The Good: It didn't rain during the race
The Bad: It was 71 at race start
The Ugly: And 95% Humidity. Yeah.

The Good: The Pensacola Kid's Marathon - Ryan's 5 year-old daughter (sorry - can't remember her name, except that she looked SO BEAUTIFUL in her pink outfit at the race start) ran 1.2 miles today, after running 25 miles with her Dad and Mom this past month. The 600 kids that participated are amazing - good for them!
The Bad: I couldn't be there to see them run.
The Ugly: Many of them - kids - had a parent or two running either the half or full marathon. And they had to wait around. What great troopers!

The Good: Post race nap, shower, comfy pjs, sushi.... yum
The Bad: post race recovery drink, and spit-up cookie
The Ugly: Sushi induced coma in about 5 minutes...

Here are my stats - in case you're wondering (it'll be in tomorrow's RR) - 1:27:20 overall time. 1st place female, 7th overall 1/2 marathon. Heart rate - your guess is as good as mine, as I ran nakend. Not in a literal sense... yuck! (Now that would have been ugly!). Nope - didn't use the heart rate monitor, just watch. And it was wonderful!

Hope that Kellye had a great TT today, good luck to all doing the Tri-Bloggers Swim Challenge, and oodles of good vibes sent to Bree for tomorrow's Great Aloha Run!

To Bree: Vvvrrrrooooooooooooooommmmmmmm!