Race Break Down

So yesterday I ran my 1st ever half marathon and as promised I am posting the breakdown

As the race was nearing I tapered my running (very rough for me)
at 6 days out I limited my extra sugar and caffeine so (No more Dew from the Mountains and only Starbucks once) I also tried not to eat so many calories since I wasn't running as much. I often would tell myself "Fat or Fast" which I heard from a endurance runner that said a quick way to drop your time is run the race lighter then you train so I train around 157 lbs and race day I was 153 lbs. 

Pre Race (Day Before)
It was my 2nd son's 1st birthday so it was a busy day not as much relaxing as I hoped for.
-Breakfast was Starbucks
-Lunch was 3 pieces of Supreme Pizza hut Pizza and 3 bites of Birthday Cake
-Dinner was 12 hours pre race start, 10oz Burger with pico, quac, jalapenos a side of grilled asparagus spears and a extra dry extra dirty martini. during the day I also drank 5 bottles of water with lemon.

Race Day
I woke up at 5:45 (so I got about 5.5 hours of sleep)
I had a shot of espresso to jump start my day.
Took a shower (Only way I can wake up)
Put on the exact running outfit I have been training in
 Black Nike Dri fit tee
 Black Nike Dri fit Running shorts
 Black Nike free running shoes (with left foot Nike+ chip, right foot race tracking chip)
 Nike thin running socks
 Nike Watch
 Nike Sunglasses
 2XU Calf Compression
 IPhone 5 with headphones and belt clip
 5 Gels (GU)
I wore a hoodie pre race to stay warm and drank half a fruit punch Gatorade on the drive and 15 minutes before the race start I took a espresso love GU shot and washed it down with a Pre workout Gatorade.

The Race
The water/gatorade stations were every other mile, I took a gel every other station so about every 4 Miles and an extra gel around mile 10ish.

I started the race quick (no surprise) I ran a 8.57 1st mile, then my brother in law zoomed past me on the outside so I picked up the pace to 8.35 2nd Mile that ended in a  27 minute 5k. Then I did my best to hold my pace. At mile 5 I started to question myself because I hadn't took my walk break yet, and my legs felt great. At mile 7 I was telling myself I better walk or at some point my legs are going to run out of gas.
At mile 8 or 9 I saw my only supporter (My Wife who had done the 5k earlier) and I was still running (She said I looked like I was slowing down) then something weird happened, for the 1st time in my life I got a 2nd wind while I was running my legs felt fresh and I picked up the pace (the chart below shows it as my 2nd fastest mile)

I felt great I kept questioning my legs like are your sure you want to go faster, and they did.
at mile 10.5 I started to wonder if I really could run the entire race without walking (I had slowed down during the drink stations to take gels and Gatorade). When I went to push off to get back to my pace my left leg cramped up. I panicked for a split second then stepped off the trail bent over to rub it and it was a solid knot so I decided to run with my leg locked in almost a straight position (Pictured below)

I looped around and passed my wife around mile 11 and my leg was still locked up but she said I looked faster. Almost at mile 12 my leg released and it was fine I had done it ran through my 1st pain without walking I then saw mile marker 13 and tried to push for a kick of speed but my leg was still to tight so I just tried to hang on.

My Goal was 2 hours

Goal Completed

and my 1st run with no walking dips



I made my dream a goal and my goal a reality.... And it felt unbelievable.

 Thanks to everyone who was part of this victory...... Now for phase 2, I'm taking off 2 days then some light run workouts then next week I'm adding in swimming and biking.