Lessons from an idiot runner, or how not to prepare for a race!

Over the past 3+ years, I have had the chance to run a great many races: Marathons, 5/10ks, Obstacle Coarse races, Cycle races, etc.  Each race required a regimented preparation leading up to the race, from eating right, resting, tapering, etc.  When you do races during marathon training season, some of these will be compromised, like the taper, or the rest, but for the most part, these races are used to streamline and perfect the preparation for a race.  Mess that up and your race will be embarrassing, torturous, or just plain bad.  I offer you one such story.

On August 17th, Potomac River Runners hosted the Leesburg 20k (12.4 mile) race.  It was a basic out and back coarse that utilized the WO&D trail for the majority of the miles.  This also meant that the first half of the race was uphill.  Rest and proper fueling beforehand would be needed.  So, how did I prepare:

1. Sleep less than 8 hours across the two days leading into the race 
2. Went to a concert in D.C. the night before, that ends at 11pm and got me home after midnight... for a 7:30am race, and had nothing ready for said race
3. Fasted for 17 hours leading to the race (thanks to #2 above) and then skip breakfast due to a lack of bread (normally have bread/bagel and PB)
4. Raced with an upset stomach, as I was recovering from the flu earlier this week 
5. Tried new GUs because they sounded great, while on said upset stomach

Any one of these could have been worked through, and we have all done one of them before a race.  To mess up the pre-race tasks this bad should have been a sign that maybe I should skip the race altogether.  Instead I went out at a pace 30 seconds slower then I wanted, in hopes that fatigue (which was already there at mile 1) would stay away.  Miles 8-12 were not friendly, and I ended up 2 minutes slower then last year (1:46:00 versus 1:44:00).  It also took me longer to recover, thus slowing down further training, for fear of injuries.

So, what to take away from this?  Well, follow your pre-race plans, and if you wander too much from them, skip the race.  It will be better for you then trying to push through it because you paid $45 for a silly medal.