Post Race Reflections and Thoughts

I thought of a few things post race and on Sunday. Just food for thought for my next race and down the road.

• Pizza - my wife and I ordered out on Friday night, the night before the race. NEVER AGAIN! I believe in all things happening for a reason. Me doing the 43 instead of the 50 allowed me to be home somewhat earlier than expected. As I arrived back in Holden, my wife started complaining of stomach pains, then she continued to vomit for an hour straight. She ate the pizza for lunch. Could this be why I had stomach issues during the run? Possibly.  We then hit up the ER and did not get home till 1:30 am.  They said it was possible food poisoning. At least my wife had a sense of humor about it all.  She said being up all day and running 43 miles was good training for my upcoming 100 miler. Gotta love it.

• Weight - I usually weigh myself pre-run/race. I was 161 on Saturday morning (ate a ton of garbage all week and loved it) and when I returned from the race I was 155.  I've run a few of these now and only seem to lose 3lbs at most. This was rarity and not sure why. I didn't consume any calories for about 2.5 hours at one stretch because I would have just thrown it up, but thats all I can come up with. I weighed myself again upon our return from the ER (didn't eat much after race due to projectile vomiting wife!) and hit 154.8.  I don't think I've been that low since my high school days.  Currently at 157lbs.

• Ginger Ale -  I need to have this in my drop bags or with my crew at all times. I had a can of this and two cans of root beer post race and began to fell a lot better. I never drink soda so its was odd for me. Drinking carbonated beverages gives me the hiccups and I can never get rid of them (spoonful of peanut butter works for me but can be tough when 20 mile from civilization!).  I probably could have won some type of post race belching contest too.

• One Year - the Wapack and Back Trail Race marks my first full year of racing. With seven ultras under my belt, I've learned quite a bit in just one year. Not to blow smoke but I have had some success finishing in the top ten five out of the seven races.  On paper this looks pretty good, but when you look deeper I was beaten by almost 2 hours at last years wapack, and an hour plus at both the fells and gac fat ass. This means if I want to compete up front in a competitive race I need to get faster. I'm thinking more long runs at tempo pace will help me. If I can hold a 8:30 mile for 31 miles (gac fat ass) then I need to train for at least 7:30/8 min mile for that same distance.