Bayou City Classic 10K

10k, 47:57, 7:44 pace

This was a disappointing race for me, but I supposed I deserved what I got. I have to say that I really didn't respect this race the way I should have. I didn't prepare for it mentally, and despite the fact that I took two days of rest prior to race day, I didn't really prepare for it physically either.

My normal pre-race routine is to eat very sensibly for a few days beforehand (mostly carbohydrates, and little to no meat). The night before I try to gorge myself with water, and in the morning I have a jelly sandwich or something along those lines. Just before the race I'll jog a bit to warm up.

For this race I did none of those things.

I guess I thought my goal of 40 minutes would just fall into my lap and I wouldn't have to work for it. As a result I crashed and burned. After a relatively fast first mile, I cramped up prety bad. I was walking before mile two, somewhat hunched over to avoid the pain of the stomach cramps. The water station at mile two helped out a bit and I was able to jog and even run a bit, but the cramps came back and I ended up walking a couple more times.

All in all it was a great learning experience. I'm like just about everyone else, and I tend to take things for granted when a pattern is established. My pattern was continuous improvement in road races, and I learned that you have to earn improvement. It isn't give away.

On a humorous note, despite my dehydration manifesting itself as cramps, I went staraight to the beer line for post-race refreshments. This is one of the better post-race parties, and if I couldn't place in my age group for running then I was going to do my best to place in beer drinking.

The Crescent City Classic is just around the corner, which will be my chance to redeem my 10K efforts.