Porta-potty strategy brings PR!

The second race of my trifecta was this weekend. The Capital City Half Marathon was in downtown Columbus and I was there bright and early for an 8am start.  The weather was perfect!

I went out pretty fast and felt great, but was ready to hang up the towel before mile 9. Oops. The numbers don't show the total story because I really struggled the last 4 or 5 miles. My Garmin line graph illustrates the run much more effectively as it shows me alternating fast and slow paces very frequently during the last 5K.  This is a bad habit for me when I lose patience.  It is not an efficient use of energy.

Depite the struggle to hang on, I was able to pull off a 2:24:18 finish, a personal record (PR) for me by almost 5 minutes. My splits were 10:18, 10:19, 10:36, 10:31, 10:27, 11:17, 10:53, 10:31, 10:52, 12:26, 11:40, 11:28, and 11:02.

This was only my 2nd official half marathon race. In 2008, I was just looking to finish and was thrilled to come in under 2:30. Comparing that race to this one, I notice the following:

1. I tanked much earlier in this race (mile 9 instead of 11).
2. I had a quicker turn-over rate and more speed when I had the energy to turn it on.  My speed training was much more effective this year.
3. The extra GUs I consumed during the race didn't seem to solve the problem of losing energy.  I really wanted to just stop running and walk the last 4 miles.  Then, again, it could have been even worse without those 3 GUs.
4. My legs were tired.  I'm not sure if this was because of the sore IT bands I've been battling the past month or so. Or perhaps this is to be expected after running 13 miles just a week earlier for the Poco Loco.  Then again, maybe I just don't have as much endurance as I did in 2008.  For whatever reason, my legs tired early and I've been much more sore post-race than ever before.
5. This year I cut out a porta-potty stop: 2 in 2008 and 1 in 2011.

I cared more about my time in this race since I wanted to do at least as well as in 2008.  Because I was watching the clock, I was more deliberate with my porta-potty strategy.  In 2008, I stopped twice and waited in line both times.  During this race, I passed many porta-potty lines even though I knew my bladder couldn't handle the whole race without a pit stop.  During training runs I plan a loop back by my house or the library to ensure I don't resort to hiding in the bushes.  My refusal to wait in line allowed me to hit the perfect porta-potty during mile 10.  It was right on the sidewalk and had absolutely no line.  Woo Hoo!  I was in and out very fast.

I trained well for this race and worked hard to hang on when I was tired.  However, I know the real reason I got this PR was my porta-potty strategy.