implosion - a sudden inward collapse; a process in which objects are destroyed by collapsing in on themselves bonk - run out of energy, tire. a state of severe exhaustion caused by the depletion of the main source of fuel in the muscles I experienced both of these today. Woke up at 5:15 am. Took a shower. Ate a light breakfast. Picked up C.B. and John and drove 80 miles to the race. It was already pretty warm when we arrived. The humidity was outrageous. I checked the weather when I got home. Beginning of race was - 72f / 98% humidity. End of race - 79f / 78% humidity. Ran a short warm-up, and was feeling good. No aches or pains to speak of. Already sweating a lot though. Continiued to take in some fluids before the race. There was a 5K and half marathon. Both started and ran together for the full 5K. I wanted to be careful of not going out to fast with the 5K'ers. Did not completely play out that way though. I felt like I held back pretty good on the first mile. Split was 7:09. Much faster than I had wanted and managed to slow down to a 7:13 on the 2nd mile. Crossed the 5K in 22:22. I was feeling so good. Not tired at all. Also found myself in a big gap between runners once the half marathon people separated from the 5K people. I was not sure about the course and did not like running alone so I caught a group of 4 about 20 to 30 seconds in front of me. Ran with them until the 5 mile mark. On mile 6 I started to feel great ! I thought the others were slowing, but I now I realize I started running faster. Felt good on 7 as well. I noticed my pace had slowed on 8, but was not concerned. As a matter of fact I knew this pace was probably to much for me, so I was happy I had backed off. At the time I still felt I could keep on going like this to the end. Then between 8 and 9 things changed...and quickly I might add. When I got to 9 there was a water stop. Unlike the others where I only swallowed what I could, I stopped and walked so I could drink two cups of Gatorade. When I started to run again, everything still was ok. Time got slower, but I did walk a little. About the same for mile 10, except there was no walking this time. Just could not go any faster. Just before 11 was another water stop. Walked and took in Gatorade again. Getting slower too. From 11 to 12 I walked a couple of times. Each time I would restart my run I would feel decent for about 2 minutes, then I would get the urge to walk again. My hamstrings and groin area kept twitching like a big cramp was about to come. So I would walk, run, then repeat. At 12 something weird happened with my right foot. My shoes were so soaked in sweat, and sounded squishy. I thought my sock had just moved around under my foot. Then when I walked again I saw that the insert that comes with the shoe was coming out the top near the inside of my ankle. So I quickly took it off and fixed it. I did not walk again after that since I had about a half mile to go. I was not breathing hard at all, and felt like I still had a little energy. But the legs were dead, and crampy. Finished in 1:44:43 (7:57 avg.) My watch measured the course a little long, but could not confirm if it was me or the course. But I did concentrate of good tangents as much as I could. After the race I had cramps in my calves and feet. They would hit with a vicious fury..quick and painful. Had some more cramps in the car and when I got home. Taking in more fluids seem to have helped. I am a little bummed about my overall time. But I also feel good about my performance. I know why I suffered...started to fast. But also got a glimpse of what I am capable of when I run smart. I hit the 8 mile mark in 57:39 (7:12). That would be the fastest I have ever run for that far. If I had run closer to 7:40 pace earlier I think I could have gone under 1:40. I will call this a learning experience. Now I have my first marathon in November to worry about. All along I have decided to make this something I just want to finish. Not a race. No matter how good I feel early, I will make sure to keep it easy so I can finish. | 