To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

Unofficial of 1:37:36. More to come later as we're heading to Chicago for the weekend. Heading to the Pixar Experience.

Kudos! Your finish times always amaze me.
Looking forward to reading the recap and hearing about the MSI exhibit. Can't believe I haven't gone to that yet!
 


Caught up on your training journal just in time for a race recap! Lots going on with you... Good job on the half.
 


Congrats, and enjoy your weekend at MSI!

Thanks! It was a good weekend at MSI. I really enjoyed all of the exhibits. The Pixar one was really cool. Honestly, why don't they just copy that and put that in Innoventions? The exhibit really makes you appreciate the movie. A single frame of "Inside Out" could take as much as 30 hours to render to the finished product by a computer. There were 148,000 frames in "Inside Out". Insane!

Kudos! Your finish times always amaze me.
Looking forward to reading the recap and hearing about the MSI exhibit. Can't believe I haven't gone to that yet!

Thanks! Recap to come sometime. Maybe later today or tomorrow. You absolutely must go to the MSI. Highlight of the trip for me was the mirror maze. At one point I got separated from Steph/G for like 5 min. We finally found each other, so then G comes running "Daddy!" SMACK! Ran right into a mirror wall. LOL! She wasn't hurt, just embarrassed. It was classic.

Looking forward to your race recap. Have fun at the Pixar experience. That’s looks like a lot of fun!

Thanks! It was fun. Definitely a must add to Disney World.

Congratulations! Great effort!!!

Thanks!

I played “Born to Run” on my run today and dedicated it to you! Fantastic job, and can’t wait to read the recap!

Appreciate it!

Caught up on your training journal just in time for a race recap! Lots going on with you... Good job on the half.

Thanks!

Great job on the half in this humidity we’ve had lately! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend in Chicago.

Thanks! The conditions were better than the rest of the week, but still some tough racing conditions.

:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::jumping1::jumping3::Pinkbounc:dancer::dancer:party: WAY TO GO!!!!!

Thanks!

Great job, Billy!

Thanks!
 
2018 Madison Mini HM Recap

Woke up at 4:10am. I ate a PB/Honey bagel and banana at 4:20am. Also, drank about 32oz of water. Got in the shower. Finished prepping the rest of the materials. Made up two batches of Maurten Drink Mix 320, and then it was time to leave.

We left for Madison, WI at 5:20am. We arrived at the Union around 5:45am. We headed into the Union and I used the restroom and got prepared in the cafe.

While waiting around/stretching, I saw one of my old co-workers Julia who also runs. It was nice to catch up. She volunteered to be a pacer for the 2:15 finish.

We headed outside and I used the porta-potty at 6:25am right on schedule. I did some more stretching and then it was time to get in a short WU run.

I did a 10 minute WU before the race. Ran back and found Steph/G. Took a picture with Bucky, and then it was time to head to the start line.

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Drank about 15oz of my Maurten Drink Mix 320 (so about 70g carbs) with about 12 min to go until start. Then, I chewed 100mg of RunGum after the Maurten and finished it up right before the gun went off. Said goodbye to Steph and G, and G told me to run fast, like really fast.

T+D was 126-132 for the duration of the race. It was mostly cloudy and the sun barely appeared if much at all.

2015 Madison Mini – 1:45:46 (known short course)
HM PR to beat – 1:30:35
Predicted Time – 1:28:50

*I intended to race this blind, but wasn’t able to keep the split clocks out of my sight line.

MILE – SPLIT (PREDICTED TIME)
Mile 1 – 7:01 (1:31:46)


10342_2206909_enm3422656729ram.jpg

I started off in the A corral but hung back. Once the race started, I let the ghosts go with the plan to Pac-Man them to the finish. I was quite surprised by the number of people passing me so early on. The beginning of the race is a moderate uphill, so to see so many flying early either meant I was doing something right, or this was going to be a long day. Kept calm and stayed relaxed. Took a couple of sips from my Maurten Drink Mix 320 that I was carrying with in a broken 10 oz flask. Since I was running with the auto-lap off, then it was up to me to hit the lap button at each mile marker. So, when the mile 1 came up, I hit the button. But in doing so inadvertently saw the split at 7:01. I thought to myself, well done. You’re right where you want to be. Just maintain this effort, but don’t look anymore.

Mile 2 – 6:52 (1:30:54)

Still running well. Calm and relaxed. Hit the 1staid station and poured the water over my head. I was still feeling good and still had some of my Maurten in my handheld. Did a few undulating hills and then came up on the second mile marker. This time I didn’t see my watch split (victory), but I did see the clock (which was just under 14 min). Still right where I wanted to be and still feeling confident.

Mile 3 – 6:58 (1:31:03)

Headed past Union South and Camp Randall towards the Zoo. Was happy with the progress in this mile. Things felt a tad more difficult, but plenty manageable. Took a few more sips of Maurten. Saw the split clock again at just under 21 min. Was really trying to avoid looking at the clocks, but they were unavoidably within my sight line. I liked settling in to around a 7 min/mile HM and was perfectly content with the pace. Everything felt right. Up to know (unknown to me), my HR splits were pretty much on point at 150, 155, and 157. Looking to be around 153-156 for a HM based on historical.

Mile 4 – 7:03 (1:31:23)

At about Mile 3.5, I hit the second aid station. Poured some water over my head, and immediately regretted it. My Gore singlet just didn’t cooperate with that choice and completely stuck to my body from there on. I think the humidity/dew point was so high that nothing was going anywhere. So I instantly became a sopping mess. I may have drank a few sips, but I think it was minimal. So between drinking a few sips and becoming a sopping mess, things were starting to feel less comfortable. Saw the clock at just under 28 min and knew I was doing well.

Mile 5 – 7:16 (1:32:10)

This is the mile where things started to turn for me. The run was becoming less pleasant. The weather wasn’t too bad as it was still mostly cloudy. My ankle started to become noticeable again. I was having trouble controlling my breathing. A side stitch was starting. I knew I needed some water, but didn’t feel overly thirsty. I drank some more Maurten. At the Mile 5 aid station, I took another cup but as I was drinking it I spit it up. So I lost pretty much everything I had. I think I should have turned back and gotten some more water. At this point I had probably drank 10-12 oz of water in the first 5 miles. I should have probably been closer to 15-25 oz based on my consumption rate during training. So I think I started to dehydrate myself. Saw the mile 5 clock at just over 35 min and knew I had lost some time. But was still moving.

Mile 6 – 7:24 (1:32:58)

My legs felt fine, but my upper torso just didn’t seem to want to agree with me today. My torso felt tight, my breathing was troublesome, I was fighting off side stitches. All around it seemed my upper half just wasn’t having it. We did get some sun during this mile, but mostly tree covered and cloudy. Saw the mile 6 clock and knew the 7 min/mile pace was starting to fall off. Don’t worry though, you’re saving yourself for the mile 12 hills. You’ll catch those ghosts soon enough. I had been jockeying with a few other runners for miles, so I kept saying as long as I’m maintaining position, then I’m right where I want to be.

Mile 7 – 7:23 (1:33:31)

Hit aid station #4 and finally said goodbye to my broken flask. Also, got in a few drinks from an aid cup. This was a place where we were crossing paths with other runners. So they were at about mile 3.5 when I was at mile 6.5. Started passing a few people, so I knew things were still going alright. Hit the mile 7 clock and saw something around 51 min. Knew I was still doing alright. My ankle still wasn’t feeling the greatest though, but seemingly by breathing/torso was giving me the most trouble.

Mile 8 – 7:46 (1:34:33)

Around mile 7.5 is when I decided to go for the second 100mg of RunGum. A little earlier than planned, but I thought it might help me salvage the pace. There were a few sharp inclines in this mile and I tried to take them nice and easy. Had a little trouble getting the gum out, but eventually succeeded. Chewed it for about a 0.5 mile until the next aid station. Saw the clock at like 58 min and was still making good time. I knew the pace was slipping, but it was still manageable. I was not terribly happy about the side aches, ankle issues, and such though.

Mile 9 – 7:44 (1:35:19)

Made it to Camp Randall and there was a nice contingent of people around. Nice to see some cheering faces. Headed up towards the stadium and a slight incline to the 6thaid station. Was able to grab a cup and continue on. Saw the clock at 1:09 and was like “WHAT?”. Definitely knew that clock had to be wrong. That just didn’t make any sense. I wasn’t getting passed by too many people. Ignore the clock and move on.

Mile 10 – 7:34 (1:35:42)

Hit the 7th aid station not too long after. Started to get some good music and felt like things were picking back up again. Hit the 8thaid station as well at the end of this mile. Hit the 10 mile clock and saw 1:12. Knew I was doing alright. Just a little over 3 miles to go and could still hit around a 1:35. The ankle was still bothersome. Legs felt good. Breathing and torso just not feeling great.

Mile 11 – 7:31 (1:35:58)

Headed out towards Picnic Point. Saw some people headed back towards the finish (hairpin up ahead). Saw a few familiar faces from earlier in the race, so knew I was doing alright holding my own. A little behind, but not awful. Clock was around 1:20 when I hit mile 11. Knew the 1:28 was definitely not going to happen, but something in the 1:30s was still achievable. But the motivation to push any harder was definitely waning. I was carrying with me a picture of Lucy in my pocket, I touched it a few times during this mile and it brought a smile to my face. I imagined her running with me. I had no desire to push the pace any harder even though my legs said they could take it, my ankle said no, and my torso said no.

Mile 12 – 7:46 (1:36:27)

Hit mile 12 around a 1:28 and knew it was only a little over a mile to the finish. Hit the last aid station, and it was time to wrap this race up. I was getting passed by quite a few other runners, but I had no desire to do anything about it. I decided just to coast to the finish line.

Mile 13 – 8:09 (1:37:15)

Saw the finish, pulled out my picture of Lucy and gave it a kiss as I crossed the finish line. Thanks for everything Lucy.

Final Time – 1:37:35

Official PRs: 0

Unofficial PRs: 0

Official Overall Standing: 147 / 2522 (5.8%)
Official Gender Standing: 122 / 1127 (10.8%)
Official Division Standing: 21 / 153 (13.7%)

Wrapped up the race by heading straight for some water, chocolate milk and then the parking structure. We had to leave for Chicago pretty quick afterwards so it was paramount I kept moving so I could get to the car and head back to Heidi’s. Passed the PR bell and knew it wasn’t my day to ring it. But maybe another time.

All in all, I don’t have a good answer for why this one went this way. The weather wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly better than what we’ve had recently. I thought going into it a 1:28 was realistic. I thought based on some training data that things were falling into place. I felt relatively strong the last few runs, and my ankle wasn’t bothering me as much the last week. So I really thought I had this one going into it. Not quite sure where to put the finger and say, I should have changed this.

-Should I not have drank 15oz of Maurten right prior to start?
-Should I have drank more water during the race?
-Should I have not poured that water on my head in such high humidity?
-Should I have worn a looser singlet?
-What was going on with my torso?
-What’s up with the ankle?
-Have I lost my racing edge?
-Am I still willing to go “there” or am I seemingly holding myself back for some reason?
-Is this a good judge of current fitness, or a fluke?
-Was I not rested enough? My Stravistix said a +8.6 (which anything above +5 is "fresh"). I was a +6.6 for the Hot2Trot. I was a +22.7 for the Dopey 5k, +22.4 for the Dopey 10k, +18 for the Dopey HM, and +8.8 for the Dopey M.

I have a lot more questions than answers at this point. After walking an additional 10 miles the rest of the day in Chicago, my ankle was tapped out. I don’t think it’s a stress fracture because I still have no pain to touch and can pass the jump test. It seems more like an ankle roll or strain of some sort. I’m thinking it might be because my ankle is flexing too much in my shoes. Both my daily shoes and running shoes are nearly brand new, but still the same shoes as before (just new). So maybe the “give” in the shoe is causing my ankle to roll. Because when I walk bare foot my ankle feels much better. I mean it’s still sore, but I think that’s a lingering feeling from it being rolled/flexed all the time. I decided to try the indoor bike Sunday night to give the ankle a break. I’ve contemplated taking the whole week off from running and just biking this week. I also switched out my daily shoes for an old pair of Kinvara 6s which are super flat and have little give to them. Hoping to test out the theory. I’m just going to take it day by day as I enter the home stretch of Chicago training. At this point, I don’t know what the marathon will bring. But I do know I’ve got some work to do.
 
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Lots of good questions there. Just based on what I've read on here, I think the ankle was definitely a contributing factor and that's something that needs to be figured out. Based on where you seem to have started having trouble, I think the lack of hydration/wet singlet combo was definitely a big issue, so that's something to think about for sure. While this may not have been the race you wanted to run, at least you have a lot to think about and you know what factors you might need to work on to perform to your best potential next race.
 
Tough when you struggle I know, but at least you've identified numerous factors that obviously contributed. You have time to get that ankle fully healed and some other changes you can consider. And, sometimes for just unknown reasons, things just don't go right. Still a great race and I know you'll fully think through all these factors and come up with a strategy to prevent them in Chicago.
 
Running uncomfortable is such a distraction. Sorry to hear about the ankle flare up and the torso issue. Sometimes the body just doesn’t cooperate. I know that’s not very scientific.

Hopefully, this race still serves to prepare you for Chicago. Better to have these issues now than on the big day. Congrats on a great race. I’m sure Lucy was proud.
 
I'm back to catch up just in time to see the race recap! First of all, I'm sorry to hear about Lucy. She was clearly well loved. That's amazing that you were able to have her photo with you during the race.

I'm sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope that it's cleared up a bit and you find an answer before Chicago!
 
Way to fight through adversity! I think you may have lost some of your edge once you realized goal time was unattainable so I wouldn’t use this as a judge of your fitness... it’s hard to push that extra level when you don’t have a carrot. Maybe I remember wrong, but this isn’t you first struggle with side stitches either... Seems like the side stitches have been more frequent occurrence lately? Is it possibly the run gum(altered breathing)? Also it seems like you may have ingested too much carb too quickly(hence the spit up). The first bottle pre race should have held you over for 60 min +, but you were already consuming your 2nd bottle before the hour mark. As for the ankle, I do this toe/foot flex excercise, and it helps a ton. I’ll see if I can find it again, but essentially if you don’t work the foot/ankle muscles your injury may linger. Seems like this race was a successful tune up, plenty to learn from for the next one :)
 
I know that the day didn't feel perfect but I still think you are :car:

I certainly know that feeling of being at a point in the race where I've decided the extra push just isn't necessary. And other races I get that insane attack hunger. For all the races that we run, not everyone will be identical...our body, our motivation, the weather. I still think you did a really good job.

Resting the ankle sounds good.
Testing out another shoe strategy sounds good.
Not giving up on that Chicago goal sounds good, because you just never know...maybe 10/7 everything will go right.

And I'm stealing your photo in your pocket idea for Chicago.

And you got a character stop (well a pre-race one)!!!!
 
Just to throw out one other option... in endurance races, there are good days and bad days. There are probably many contributing factors to a bad day, but it is often difficult to narrow down the cause(s) from the effect(s). On bad days, things that normally don't affect you do... and then the mental aspect breaks down, and it becomes a downward spiral. Bad days happen on shorter (anaerobic) races as well... there is just a much smaller time period for damage (time, mental, etc) to occur, so you don't notice them as much. With endurance races, bad days can definitely get you down, but they shouldn't. Sometimes a mid-training race can be difficult to get motivated for, since your mind is on the bigger prize. A bad day has no ramifications on your long-term goals and possible outcomes in the future. Oftentimes, a bad race is followed by a phenomenal race.

That being said, you do need to rule out certain things. Since you had great workouts ahead of the half at the appropriate paces, that implies that you are in good condition from a physiological perspective. Physically, the only issue was the ankle, so you should probably have that looked at just to make sure there is no stress fracture or other issue. Since the bad feelings started before the end of mile 5, I think the singlet, water, and nutrition issues were not really important in the grand scheme of things (just effects of a bad day).

I know you like technical details and explanations, and I do as well, but after over 30 years of running and triathlons, I have determined that sometimes races just don't go as planned. We have families, full-time jobs, house construction, and pets that rightfully keep our attention. It could just be that your mind wasn't into it (too much other stuff going on in life). That's okay and normal, and there are many races to be run.
 
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First off, I always like to remind people that after a race that didn't work out the way they hoped to keep the big picture in mind. And I don't mean race goals, but rather the benefits that come from physical fitness. Just seeing the pictures you posted with Lucy after your first got her and compared to now shows where you were and where you are today. Steph and G have a much healthier you to bless their lives.

So, work on determining what contributed to the results, but don't dwell on the negative. Learn from it, move on, and remember that being a better husband and father is a much more significant and meaningful accomplishment than any race or combination of them.

-Was I not rested enough? My Stravistix said a +8.6 (which anything above +5 is "fresh"). I was a +6.6 for the Hot2Trot. I was a +22.7 for the Dopey 5k, +22.4 for the Dopey 10k, +18 for the Dopey HM, and +8.8 for the Dopey M.
I wonder if the recent emotional loss of Lucy and the surrounding nuttiness of moving and house building caused a kind of emotional fatigue that cannot be measured.

Hopefully, this race still serves to prepare you for Chicago. Better to have these issues now than on the big day. Congrats on a great race. I’m sure Lucy was proud.
I'm sure she was too.

And I'm stealing your photo in your pocket idea for Chicago.
A wonderful tribute.

And you got a character stop (well a pre-race one)!!!!
Maybe someday I'll get a race photo with BYU's Cosmo the Cougar. But for now I may have to settle for the San Francisco Giants Lou Seal next month.

We have families, full-time jobs, house construction, and pets that rightfully keep our attention. It could just be that your mind wasn't into it (too much other stuff going on in life). That's okay and normal, and there are many races to be run.
I think emotional fatigue can play a bigger part than we realize especially if other factors such as the singlet frustration or torso and ankle acting up are beginning to effect performance. It could also be the brain essentially mandating that you dial it back because pushing too hard today will cause greater problems down the line.

I know it's not the race you wanted. But look back to this past winter when you were injured and look at what you have worked back to now.
 
Lots of good questions there. Just based on what I've read on here, I think the ankle was definitely a contributing factor and that's something that needs to be figured out. Based on where you seem to have started having trouble, I think the lack of hydration/wet singlet combo was definitely a big issue, so that's something to think about for sure. While this may not have been the race you wanted to run, at least you have a lot to think about and you know what factors you might need to work on to perform to your best potential next race.

Thanks! I think as you and many others have made me better realize, this race had two goals:

1) Current judge of current fitness
2) Race Day prep

I'm not quite sure #1 was achieved. Plenty of training workouts would suggest otherwise, but lots of things to think about leading up to Chicago. I might need to rethink my fueling strategy and my choice of attire.

Tough when you struggle I know, but at least you've identified numerous factors that obviously contributed. You have time to get that ankle fully healed and some other changes you can consider. And, sometimes for just unknown reasons, things just don't go right. Still a great race and I know you'll fully think through all these factors and come up with a strategy to prevent them in Chicago.

Thanks! Definitely hoping I can get the ankle resolved and hoping it's as simple as changing the shoes. Time will tell, otherwise a doctor will.

Running uncomfortable is such a distraction. Sorry to hear about the ankle flare up and the torso issue. Sometimes the body just doesn’t cooperate. I know that’s not very scientific.

Hopefully, this race still serves to prepare you for Chicago. Better to have these issues now than on the big day. Congrats on a great race. I’m sure Lucy was proud.

Thanks! A very important reminder that this race was a test run. Things to clean up and possibly change in advance of the real "A" race.

I'm back to catch up just in time to see the race recap! First of all, I'm sorry to hear about Lucy. She was clearly well loved. That's amazing that you were able to have her photo with you during the race.

I'm sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope that it's cleared up a bit and you find an answer before Chicago!

Thanks! Lucy will be sorely missed. It occurred to me right as I was walking out of the vet clinic on Monday. She may not still be here with me, but she can be here with me in my pocket.

Way to fight through adversity! I think you may have lost some of your edge once you realized goal time was unattainable so I wouldn’t use this as a judge of your fitness... it’s hard to push that extra level when you don’t have a carrot. Maybe I remember wrong, but this isn’t you first struggle with side stitches either... Seems like the side stitches have been more frequent occurrence lately? Is it possibly the run gum(altered breathing)? Also it seems like you may have ingested too much carb too quickly(hence the spit up). The first bottle pre race should have held you over for 60 min +, but you were already consuming your 2nd bottle before the hour mark. As for the ankle, I do this toe/foot flex excercise, and it helps a ton. I’ll see if I can find it again, but essentially if you don’t work the foot/ankle muscles your injury may linger. Seems like this race was a successful tune up, plenty to learn from for the next one :)

All good thoughts. I've been having these side stitch issues off and on for quite some time. And they happen far more frequently in racing than in training. Although I'm not sure it's connected with RunGum because I've had these stitches prior to RunGum and in training runs (where I don't use it). So it might be a piece to the puzzle, but there's some other root cause.

I do think that drinking the Maurten pre-race has not worked the last two races. It just might be too much to handle. Technically, it's isotonic and it's below the threshold for hourly consumption. But quite possibly taking a bolus dose of 60-70g in a span of a minute is not nearly as well tolerated. I didn't have any issues in the few training runs with the technique, but possibly race day nerves make the stomach a little less tolerant. The second bottle of 10oz would have had about 47 g carbs in it. So I probably finished it off around mile 5/6 (35-43 min into the race). So add the +12 min from the start time, and I consumed about 107-117 g carbs in the first 47-55 min of the race. So now that I put pen to paper, this easily could have been the torso side stitch problem. Although the "spit-up" was mostly just not drinking the water from the cup well. But it does look like I went way passed the carb tolerance point. So I really need to rethink the strategy for Chicago. Because I'd prefer not to carry anything in my hand (it felt freeing to toss the bottle in the trash at mile 7).

Let me know if you find those ankle exercises. The ankle is feeling significantly better today while wearing the super flat Kinvara 6s. So I'm hoping this is a sign I'm on to something. Or it's merely me being hopeful.

Great job, Billy! Hoping your ankle starts to improve so you can crush Chicago!

Thanks! I appreciate it.

I know that the day didn't feel perfect but I still think you are :car:

I certainly know that feeling of being at a point in the race where I've decided the extra push just isn't necessary. And other races I get that insane attack hunger. For all the races that we run, not everyone will be identical...our body, our motivation, the weather. I still think you did a really good job.

Resting the ankle sounds good.
Testing out another shoe strategy sounds good.
Not giving up on that Chicago goal sounds good, because you just never know...maybe 10/7 everything will go right.

And I'm stealing your photo in your pocket idea for Chicago.

And you got a character stop (well a pre-race one)!!!!

Thanks! Quite easily just not mentally there for this one. Plenty of reasons why that could be the case. Not giving up yet on Chicago. I'd like to see the ankle get healthy, because I know I can do big things in October. It's just a matter of putting the pieces together.

You're more than welcome to use the photo idea.

Hooray for a character stop!

Just to throw out one other option... in endurance races, there are good days and bad days. There are probably many contributing factors to a bad day, but it is often difficult to narrow down the cause(s) from the effect(s). On bad days, things that normally don't affect you do... and then the mental aspect breaks down, and it becomes a downward spiral. Bad days happen on shorter (anaerobic) races as well... there is just a much small time period for damage (time, mental, etc) to occur, so you don't notice them as much. With endurance races, bad days can definitely get you down, but they shouldn't. Sometimes a mid-training race can be difficult to get motivated for, since your mind is on the bigger prize. A bad day has no ramifications on your long-term goals and possible outcomes in the future. Oftentimes, a bad race is followed by a phenomenal race.

That being said, you do need to rule out certain things. Since you had great workouts ahead of the half at the appropriate paces, that implies that you are in good condition from a physiological perspective. Physically, the only issue was the ankle, so you should probably have that looked at just to make sure there is no stress fracture or other issue. Since the bad feelings started before the end of mile 5, I think the singlet, water, and nutrition issues were not really important in the grand scheme of things (just effects of a bad day).

I know you like technical details and explanations, and I do as well, but after over 30 years of running and triathlons, I have determined that sometimes races just don't go as planned. We have families, full-time jobs, house construction, and pets that rightfully keep our attention. It could just be that your mind wasn't into it (too much other stuff going on in life). That's okay and normal, and there are many races to be run.

Thanks and all very good points. As much as I like to analyze things to death, sometimes things just don't line up for an unexplainable reason. I appreciate all these thoughts. This race was practice. I learned new lessons from it, so that I can apply them towards the bigger "A" race goal.

It is true that I've got a lot of things on my plate right now. Plus one other thing I've been working hard on for the last few weeks. :thumbsup2 :ssst: :surfweb:

First off, I always like to remind people that after a race that didn't work out the way they hoped to keep the big picture in mind. And I don't mean race goals, but rather the benefits that come from physical fitness. Just seeing the pictures you posted with Lucy after your first got her and compared to now shows where you were and where you are today. Steph and G have a much healthier you to bless their lives.

So, work on determining what contributed to the results, but don't dwell on the negative. Learn from it, move on, and remember that being a better husband and father is a much more significant and meaningful accomplishment than any race or combination of them.

I think emotional fatigue can play a bigger part than we realize especially if other factors such as the singlet frustration or torso and ankle acting up are beginning to effect performance. It could also be the brain essentially mandating that you dial it back because pushing too hard today will cause greater problems down the line.

I know it's not the race you wanted. But look back to this past winter when you were injured and look at what you have worked back to now.

Thank you. Keeping things in perspective is important and I appreciate you reminding me of this. Perspective around what this race actually means, and perspective around the progress that has been made since recovering from my injury earlier this year. If it were easy, then I probably wouldn't still be doing this. I continue to run because it's hard, and because it challenges me. Something where I need to work really really hard to achieve my self-laid out goals. But at the end of the day, I need to keep the big picture in mind that's all around me 24/7.
 

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