Race (Updated) and Dublin Intrigue

Update: Check out brightroom.com's picture listing for the race! They must have thought I was pretty. They used my picture for their race website. AHhaha. You can put in bib number 85 in the form and see all the pics they took of me.

I haven't run a competitive 10k in a looooong time. I don't think I've been under 42 minutes since at least 2006. And, seeing as I have done exactly zero training above "Easy" pace in this entire cycle, I had no idea what to expect from my legs. Yesterday I ran the Capitol Hill Classic 10k race. I took from it some good things and some disappointment. If you want exact numbers, you can look here. My final time as reported by Washington Running Report was 40:48. This was the positive. I placed 59th among men and only 4 women crossed the finish line before me. This is out of about 2000 finishers. With no speed training at all, I was able to average 6:34 miles for the duration of a course with 2 significant hills. They don't call it Capitol Hill for nothing! The disappointment comes, almost exclusively, from hindsight. If I had known that I could run decently like that, I would have pressed a little harder in the beginning to see if I could dip below 40. Dipping below 40 for me is always a success. The other disappointment for me was the utter collapse I faced coming back up Capitol Hill. No one passed me on the hill, but it felt like I was running through molasses. I was red-lined for the duration of the hill. Granted, the hill is (in)conveniently situated in the latter part of the sixth mile of the course, so I had reason to be tired but, still, no excuses. Davey-boy definitely needs to work on his strength.
I just thought of another positive, though. That positive was this morning's run. Not because it was fast, however. Rather, because it was my slowest and shortest run yet! Patience reigned supreme and I was able to run slow and only for about 4 miles. All too often, if I make it out the door the next day after a hard workout or race, my legs want to run fast again. The faster stride feels natural. This, inevitably, ends in me injuring myself. But, this morning, I just jogged. And it was nice. It was a gorgeous (albeit chilly) clear cool morning and I just enjoyed the morning scenery. By the time parts started to hurt, I was pulling up to the finish line. Ok. That's it. Tooting of my own horn over for the day.


Part 2 - Dublin update. Seeing as this coming weekend marks my first long(er) run, I wanted to check to see what the water stations at the Dublin Marathon would be providing. I like to train with the same drinks and fuel that will be available along the course so that there are no surprises on race day. The following is an excerpt from the Marathon Website:
"Pure clear still water in plastic bottles will be provided at the 8 water stations."
... and? ... Really? That's it? No Gatorade? No gu? Nothing? Uh oh.
I emailed the race directors to see if there had been an omission. Nope. Just water. And at just 8 stops along the 42.2 kilometer course. Since I'm always looking for the Yin and the Yang, the good news and the bad news, let me proceed to the good news. I have 23 weeks to prepare myself to race with those circumstances! I want to experiment with just Gu (energy gels) and water. And with bringing along gatorade powder to mix in the bottles. The other good news is that the water will be served in 8oz bottles. It will be easy to meter out Gatorade powder for such a bottle. It will also be easy to calculate consumption during the marathon. 8 aid stations, 8oz per station, 64 oz (2 liters) of "pure clear still water" during the race. I'm quite sure that there will be myriad postings about caloric absorption rates and resulting race fueling strategies to come, but I have a good feeling about the symmetry of the 8 8oz bottles that will be available to me.