Lake Monona 20K Recap

Today's 20K race along Lake Monona was my longest race (by far) to date.

The weather was great and the registration was very well organized.  Holly met us at the start and she and Tim followed me around the lake to get photographic evidence of my 12.52 miles (the course was a little long).

I started out well.  I felt really good and just maintained a steady pace.  I didn't start out too fast, which is a huge victory for me.  :-)

Apparently, there was a chicken that ran the race.  :-)  I don't remember seeing him, but Tim and Holly were quite preoccupied with him and almost missed seeing me at the first water stop.

They proceeded to follow me down the road to get some more pictures.

When they didn't have me in their sights, the checked out the Madison sky line.

And they played in the lake.

I caught up with them again (and my Aunt Sharon) around mile 10 or so.  It was about the same time that I hit the proverbial wall.  I suddenly got very tired.  My legs were sore.  My hips were really tight.  And my pace dropped drastically.  Holly said that she could tell from my stride and posture that I was struggling. 

The last 1.5 miles was really hard.  I was having some pain in my right foot and my hips were so stiff and sore that I couldn't get a decent stride.  I kept running because it would get me back to the car faster than walking.

By the looks of that photo, I also got a little cranky towards the end of the race.  i think it was the dehydration talking.  There weren't enough water stations.  I actually stopped twice along the bike path to get a drink out of a water fountain.

After the race, my legs were covered in salt.  I was really dehydrated.  I guzzled as much water as I could and it still didn't feel like enough.  We went to Whole Foods for lunch and I ate a lot of food!  And it was good.

I am having Garmin uploading issues, so I will post the mile splits tomorrow.