This race was not quite what I expected.  It was held at the cross country
ski area in town and I assumed it would be on one of the flatter trails.  It
was held on a black diamond trail, snow covered, and I didn't have spikes.
We climbed the highest hill in town and it was practically vertical in spots
requiring me to turn my feet out and dig in to get up them.  Going down the
dips was even harder because instead of lengthening my stride, I had to
shorten it in order to avoid losing control or sliding.  Within minutes of
starting, I knew 30 minutes or less would be dreaming.

It was a beautiful cloudless day around 20 degrees.  I was in the shade for
most of it, but only had a problem with cold fingers.  The shake with banana
& raspberry I had 90 minutes before start time was like a lump in my gut.  I
ate my oatmeal, yogurt, and peanut butter about 5 hours before the race and
did a light workout with a lot of stretching and walking to warm up.

My hamstrings hurt on the hills enough to take my mind of my nausea.  I
sprinted the last .4 mi because the course flattened out enough to go all
out (something I've been practicing) and I was warm, though the hams were
stiff.  In spite of drinking 64 oz of water before the race including 20 oz
right before the start (something I always do), I became severely dehydrated
and practically collapsed after crossing the finish line - cold weather
sucks the water right out of you.  The hamstrings cramped up big time.  A
friend came by to check on me and some guys helped me across the parking lot
to the indoors where they had water, bananas, and bagels.  I tried a banana
and it didn't stay down and I was really woozy so I sipped at the water
while massaging the hamstrings.  My friends (all very experienced runners &
one is a dr.) helped me out and made me try a little gatorade.  I only took
a few sips because it was nasty tasting.  Someone brought me a
cinnamon-raisin bagel which I initially refused.  After a little arguing and
coaxing I agreed to eat half of it.  I ate some slowly and felt a lot better
within 15 minutes.  I wanted the other half and ate that too.  Not in my WOE
but I was desperate for something to help or else I would have been taken to
the ER.  I was then able to manage a banana, and later on another one and
felt good enough to get myself home once the cramps subsided.  Luckily there
were a lot of post-race celebrations and I had planned on being there all
afternoon.  I even won a silly prize.

I did not finish last in my age group.  I also did not place, though I
didn't expect to.  I was disappointed in my performance at first until the
friends helped cheer me up.  I did ok considering the circumstances.  A
woman I passed on one of the hills came by and complimented me, as did a few
HS age guys who were hanging out at the last .2 miles to give encouragement
to the late finishers. The next flat 5K I will break my 30 min and meanwhile
I'll keep training to do so.  Can't reach every goal on every shot and it's
ok, it doesn't make me a failure.  I have to keep remembering that I only
ran my first race less than 6 months ago.

Even though I raised my calories daily this week (yesterday was 1600-ish), I
still lost 4 pounds since Tuesday (143.5 to 139.5). I had no problem with
the bagel, and the extra bananas intellectually, but feel a little let down
mentally for some stupid reason.  I didn't let it interfere with eating a
full dinner this evening (turkey mixture in acorn squash) because I was
absolutely ravenous when I got home.  Physically I'm feeling a whole lot
better.  I've been taking in about 32 oz of water each hour - slowly and
though I'm still dizzy, the legs feel great after a soak in the tub.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!